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Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009
|=20Panthers get past Tigers at Class 4A volleyball=20 semifinals
O'Fallon will play for sectional title
- =
News-Democrat
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BELLEVILLE -- The O'Fallon Panthers continued to raise the bar to = another=20 level Tuesday in the semifinals of the Class 4A Normal West Volleyball=20 Sectional.
Senior Emma Goldschmidt pounded down 11 kills and freshman Katie = Roustio=20 chipped in with seven kills as the Panthers rolled into the sectional = title=20 match with a a 25-20, 25-13 win over Southwestern Conference rival = Edwardsville=20 in a game played at Belleville East.
Just three days removed from claiming its first regional title since = 1992,=20 the Panthers suffered no letdown as they grabbed the momentum midway in = the=20 first game and never looked back in a near-flawless effort against = Edwardsville.=20
A five-point service run by Tori Lee in the first game gave O'Fallon = some=20 breathing room. After Meredith Mueller had a service string of nine in a = row in=20 the second game, O'Fallon was well on its way to the sectional title = match.
"I guess we could play better but I haven't seen it this year. That = was=20 amazing,'' O'Fallon coach Erin Legendre said. "We really put it together = there=20 and wow, I'm just very proud of my kids.
"We started a little slow with five unforced errors, but once we got = into the=20 match and our passing and hitting started coming around we were able to = get the=20 momentum and carry it on to the second game.''
The win sends O'Fallon (28-8-1) into the title match on Thursday = against=20 Quincy at Normal West High School. The Blue Devils advanced with a = 25-23, 25-23=20 win over Normal on Tuesday.
Edwardsville (23-15) played well early. With sophomore Taylor = Marshall=20 serving, O'Fallon made a pair of hitting errors as the Tigers took an = 11-10=20 lead.
But after a sideout, the Panthers scored four points in a row with=20 Goldschmidt serving to take a 15-11 lead. Minutes later, Lee had her = five-point=20 service run as the Panthers lead grew to 22-25.
Goldschmidt then ended the first game with her sixth kill of the = night.
Edwardsville coach Jami Parker said once the Panthers got the = momentum, there=20 was no stopping them.
"They got the momentum, and we just weren't able to refocus on what = we needed=20 to do,'' Parker said. "They just really played very well, and we didn't. = When=20 you put those together it just led to a poor night for us.''
A pair of kills by Edwardsville junior Maddi Croft to start game two = tied the=20 score at 4, before the Panthers put the match away.
Three service winners by Mueller, two kills and a tip by Roustio and = two=20 kills by Goldschmidt turned a tie score into a 14-4 lead.
Seconds late, Goldschmidt added a pair of service winners as the = Panthers=20 lead continued to grow at 17-5.
"They (Roustio and Goldschmidt) are quite a one-two punch,'' Legendre = said.=20 "We knew that Edwardsville would concentrate on slowing them down and = that we=20 would need some other players to step up, I thought our hitters on the = other=20 side really stepped up.''
Contact reporter Dean Criddle at 239-2661 or dcriddle@bnd.com.
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