Volleyball squads get first victories of 2008
BY AARON OTTIS
SPORTS EDITOR
JERSEYVILLE – Bob Siemer got twice the good news on Tuesday.

Both the junior varsity and varsity volleyball teams cracked the win column against Lovejoy, giving each squad its first win of the season before the varsity team heads into a tough field at the Alton Redbird Tournament this weekend.

It took the Lady Panthers a long while during the 2007 season to grab the first of only two wins. This season, it took Jersey only four matches.

“We knew the first week was going to be tough with Carrollton, Alton High and Jacksonville,” Siemer said. “Last season we lost early in the Calhoun Tournament, and that should have been a couple wins. Not to take anything away from Lovejoy, but we scheduled them early because needed to play a team that would we be competitive against so maybe down the road we have some confidence.”

Jersey came from behind in both varsity games to get the win. The Lady Panthers took the first game at 25-19. After a slow start in the second game, Jersey plowed ahead to a 25-11 victory.

Then it was smiles and high fives on the court for the Lady Panthers.

“We can do this. We fell behind both games. I didn’t call a timeout because I thought that if I did, we would all come over and stare at each other and fret about what was going to happen,” Siemer explained. “I wanted to see our girls fight through it instead, and we did. We came back and did alright.”

The Lady Panthers are showing big signs of improvement early this season. Jersey struggled to serve the ball consistently last season, and fought to set the ball properly against Carrollton and Jacksonville.

“The key tonight was that we got the ball to the center so she could make her sets and we could get some kills,” Siemer explained. “That is something that we don’t do often enough. When you do that, the game gets fun. Shelby Smith and Shelby Woelfel always look impressive during warm ups, but we don’t usually get to see that during the games. Tonight, they both really hammered the ball. If they do that all the time, even if it goes out of bounds, at least we get the intimidation factor swinging our direction.”

And Jersey’s serve ratio has been between 80 and 90-percent for the team during these four matches.

Senior Rachel Ward paced the Lady Panthers offense with 12 points and six assists. Kelsey Thomas chipped in five points and seven digs, while Smith had five kills and four points. Jennifer Bierman had five assists and Shelby Woelfel had six kills.

“It’s a nice change to get a win this early,” Woelfel said. “If we are going to continue to win, we have to find ways to get along better and communicate on the floor.”

“We have to stay focused in practice and keep improving,” Ward added.

Jersey’s first game in the Alton Tourney will be against Civic Memorial at 4 p.m. on Friday. Jersey will face Roxana at 6 p.m. the same night.

Saturday’s schedule includes Carrollton at 10 a.m., Alton at 11 a.m. and Alton Marquette at 1 p.m.

The varsity team’s record is now 1-3.

The JV defeated Lovejoy 24-13, 25-20. In the first game, Chrissy Tonsor served 14 points in a row to help Jersey’s come from behind win.

Rachel Ward bumps a pass forward during the Lady Panthers win Monday over Lovejoy. Ward had 12 points and six assists. Aaron Ottis/thejcstar.com