Area teams took the court last night around the Central Illinois area as most teams are coming to the end of their conference schedule and regular season play as the postseason is just a couple of weeks away.
The Mt. Zion volleyball team continued it’s hot play with a straight sets conference victory at home over Salem on Thursday night, 25-17, 25-14. The Braves controlled both sets on their way to an Apollo Conference Title and staying unbeaten in conference play at 9-0 with one game remaining in the conference schedule. Erin Ripple led the way for Mt. Zion for 11 kills and Ali Vaughn chipped in 24 assists. The Braves will look to close out the conference slate undefeated with their final tilt coming Tuesday night at Charleston.
Shelbyville and St. Teresa battled each other to a three set thriller on Thursday night that saw Shelbyville get behind early but find away to win the conference match at home, 20-25, 25-19, 25-19. The Bulldogs did exactly what they needed to do by silencing the Shelbyville hitters in set one to take the early advantage. Shelbyville however, found away to get things going offensively to respond and take sets two and three for the win. Abby Robinson led St. Teresa with 14 kills and Sydney Miller of Shelbyville matched that with 14 kills of her own. Shelbyville is 23-6 and will take on Central A&M next week and St. Teresa is 9-15 on the year and will return to action next week at Warrensburg-Latham.
There was another three match thriller in the area on Thursday night that pitted Meridian and Clinton against each other in a conference matchup. Clinton got out early, then fell behind, then found away to climb back in it and win set three to get their first conference win of the year, 21-25, 25-10, 19-25. The Hawks did a nice job bouncing back in the second set to dominate and force a third set, but Clinton found their stride and Meridian had some errors which allowed Clinton to earn the win. Chelsea Gets led Meridian with 14 kills and Madi Filkin led Clinton with 13 kills, respectively. Both teams will return to action next week with a non-conference and conference game before the postseason starts.
Argenta-Oreana moved their record to 19-7 on Thursday night after a straight sets win at home against LSA, 25-15, 25-9. The Bombers of A-O controlled the game and momentum throughout the night to pick up the conference win. Senior Madyson Eller led the Bombers with seven kills and Haley Williamson added 15 assists. A-O will return to action on Monday night against Clinton and LSA will play in the Champaign St. Thomas More Tournament tomorrow.