Aces achieve goal at EIC Tourney

By Editor | October 27, 2010 |

ST. ELMO – After losing twice in pool A play of the Egyptian-Illini Conference Tournament last Tuesday, Mulberry Grove High School volleyball coach Natalie Lappe said the team was determined to win a late-season match.

“We’re doing a lot of things right, we just need to put it all together,” she said. “We have to learn to play 100 percent the whole time.”

That only happened twice for the Aces during the regular season – against Mt. Olive and against Bunker Hill in the Morrisonville Tournament – before the Aces defeated Odin 25-8, 25-18 in the bronze flight of the EIC Tournament last Thursday.

Courtney Thomas served 13 straight times for Mulberry Grove in the first set against Odin – which defeated the Aces 24-26, 25-16, 25-20 during the regular season – to extend its lead to 24-8.

Thomas had eight more serves in the second set.

The momentum was continued for Mulberry Grove after it lost a close match to Ramsey, 25-20, 25-18, in the bronze flight opener. The Rams continued on to beat Odin and win the consolation championship.

Now, the Aces will look toward their regional tournament, in which they are the No. 7 seed, at Raymond-Lincolnwood High School. Mulberry Grove will face second-seeded Morrisonville on Thursday.

The Mohawks handled the Aces, 25-15, 25-15, during the Morrisonville Tournament on Oct. 2.

If Mulberry Grove upsets Morrisonville, it will face the winner of the No. 3 Patoka/No. 6 Mt. Olive match.

The Aces got going in the winning direction by beating Brownstown, 25-17, in the second set of their match in pool A play last Tuesday.

Brownstown kept the match close before Harley Tompkins got a kill off a Bombers serve to put the Aces ahead 12-10.

Thomas later got a kill to put Mulberry Grove ahead 15-11, forcing Brownstown coach Toby Harms to use a timeout.

But the Aces continued chipping away, going up seven after Katie Jett recorded a service ace to give Mulberry Grove a 22-15 lead.

“(Winning a set) was pretty important, but we want to put it together,” Lappe said last Tuesday.

But Mulberry Grove did not come out with the same intensity in third set, falling 15-8 to allow Brownstown to play in the silver flight of the finals.

The Aces fell to an early 8-3 deficit and were unable to score any points off their own serves in that loss.

“I don’t think we came out with the fire and intensity that we had in the second game,” Lappe said. “We got back on our heels and let them score a few points before we decided that we needed to turn it up.”

Earlier in the pool, the Aces lost to top-seeded St. Elmo, 25-7, 25-6.