PREP VOLLEYBALL: Regional titles at stake this week

Source: The Telegraph, Alton, Ill.迷你倉最平Oct. 29--Two achievements targeted by the Roxana Shells volleyball team in 2013 included a school record for victories and a regional championship.The 22-12 Shells took out the first goal last week and take aim at the second this week in the Roxana Class 3A Regional. Roxana is the No. 1 seed in a field that includes second-seed Jersey, Greenville, Taylorville, East Alton-Wood River and Civic Memorial."The regional is wide open with four teams having a winning record, but not one team can be overlooked," Shells coach Mike McKinney said. "It should be an exciting time all three nights. We are hoping to send our seniors out with a regional title. This week is almost like another senior night for us."EA-WR met Taylorville and CM played Greenville on Monday with the winners filling tonight's semifinal bracket with the Shells and Panthers. The title match is at 6 p.m. Thursday.The Shells, playing in Class 3A for the second season, are seeking their second regional title since winning their first in 2003. Roxana is led by senior Anna Whitaker and junior Bailey McGuire, the team's top attackers.Jersey, which won its lone regional title in 1994, has hopes of ending its postseason drought and owns a three-set win over the Shells when they met Sept. 13 at the Alton Tournament. The 17-12 Panthers are led by 5-foot-10 senior outside hitter Macy Thurston.The regional champ at Roxana advances to the Mattoon Sectional for a semifinal match with the Springfield Lanphier Regional winner. Springfield (30-2-1) is the No. 1 seed at Lanphier.CLASS 4AThe Edwardsville Tigers and Alton Redbirds are part of a five-team field at the Quincy Regional, where the host Blue Devils (24-10) are the No. 1 seed.Edwardsville (21-14) is the No. 2 seed and remains a serious title contender despite limping into postseason with nine losses in its last 13 matches. The Tigers, who shared the Southwestern Conference title with Belleville West, are seeking their sixth successive regional title.First up for the Tigers is Alton, which is 16-17-1 and carries a five-match losing streak into the playoffs. The Redbirds will play the Tigers at 6 p.m. today in a match moved to Edwardsville to save both teams a trip to Quincy.The championship match is at 6 p.m. Thursday in Quincy, with the winner advancing to the Normal West Sectional.CLASS 2AThe Southwestern Piasa Birds would love to cap their turnaround season with the program's first regional championship. The Bird迷你倉 get the advantage of playing at home, but the field includes a Carlinville program with a rich history of regional success.The 26-7 Cavaliers, who have won eight in a row and 14 of their last 15 matches, are the No. 1 seed and favorite to capture a 19th regional title. Carlinville, regional champ in six of the last seven seasons, split a pair of regular-season matchups with Southwestern.The Cavs are formidable at the net with 6-0 Megan Stayton, 5-11 Kathleen Kelly and 5-9 Talesha Scott attacking off sets from Carley Kulenkamp. All four are juniors, with seniors Bailey Schmidt and Kayla Wills prominent in the back row during the Cavaliers' run to a 26th straight 20-wins season.Southwestern is 16-8 after finishing 4-22 in 2012. The Birds lack the firepower up front that Carlinville brings, but has gotten kill shots from sophomores Maddy Greeling and Karlie Green with sophomore setter Ashlyn Ringhausen also turning in a strong season.But before Southwestern can concern itself with a third shot at Carlinville, both the Birds and Cavs must get past tonight's semifinal matches. The title match is at 6 p.m. Thursday with the winner advancing to the Newton Sectional and a semifinal against the St. Elmo Regional winner.Metro East Lutheran is the No. 2 seed at St. Elmo, where Altamont is the top seed. Regional winners from Pana and Casey-Westfield also feed into the sectional at Newton. Effingham St. Anthony is the No. 1 seed at Pana, with Newton No. 1 at Casey.CLASS 1ACalhoun, which romped to a Western Illinois Valley Conference title with a 9-0 record, is the No. 1 seed in its own Calhoun Regional. The Warriors are 25-3-1 and gunning for their third consecutive regional championship.Calhoun, which won regional titles in 1986-87 before going back-to-back in 2011-12, has never produced a regional three-peat. With just one defeat in their last 24 matches, the Warriors are a clear-cut favorite in a field including No. 2 seed Greenfield and No. 3 Carrollton along with Pleasant Hill and Griggsville-Perry.Semifinals in Hardin are tonight with the title match Thursday. The Calhoun Regional champ moves on to next week's Lebanon Sectional.The Bunker Hill Regional survivor also advances to Lebanon. The host Minutemaids are the No. 1 seed at Bunker Hill ahead of Lovejoy, Lebanon, Mount Olive, Brussels and Madison.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.) Visit The Telegraph (Alton, Ill.) at .thetelegraph.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存