Mid-Week Prep Volleyball: Herrin Edges Past Lady Indians

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Determined to avenge a pair of losses, the Herrin High School volleyball team turned the tide of momentum Wednesday and defeated Du Quoin 22-25, 25-22, 25-16 on Senior Night.

On an evening set aside to honor seniors Austyn Ridings, Natalie Burris, Courtney Cislaghi and Brittany Ryker, a pair of juniors led the Lady Tigers' offensive attack.

Stephanie Diaz dominated the second game and finished with 13 kills, while Haley Elders had most of her nine kills in the third as Herrin took down a team it lost to at both the season-opening SIRR Conference tournament and the Marion Invitational in three games.

Herrin (14-16) meets the Lady Indians (12-19( again next week at the Du Quoin Class 2A Regional which also features Murphysboro in the field.

The Lady Tigers' victory in the third meeting came without freshman hitter Abby Horn, who was sick.

"We had to move some people around and practiced it a little bit but they don't get enough touches like they should," said Herrin coach Irv Lukens. "It was unexpected but you have to go with what you have."

Ridings had the bulk of her 10 kills in the opening game, when Herrin came back from a 22-15 deficit to trail by just one at 23-22 only to see Du Quoin claim the final two points.

The second game went back and forth until Elders followed a kill by Diaz with a tip that put Herrin ahead 16-15.

After a sideout, Diaz put down three straight kills to force Du Quoin to call timeout, but a pair of errors gave Herrin a 5-0 run and a 21-16 advantage.

The lead was up to 23-17 when Du Quoin scored five straight points with Jessica Hirsch serving to make it 23-22, but Ridings smacked a kill and Cislaghi served an ace to force a third game.

Elders had three kills as Herrin jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the decisive game. Diaz added two spikes as the lead grew to 11-6.

Ridings made the Lady Indians pay for consecutive oversets with kills and Cislaghi served another ace to make it 14-8.

Not only did the Lady Tigers send their seniors out in style, they proved they can beat a Du Quoin squad that would have had a major mental edge had it handed Herrin a third loss.

"Hopefully that will give us an edge," Lukens said. "They've already beat us twice and those were both battles in three games, so to come back and get this one has to give the girls some confidence going into next week.

Du Quoin was led by the 14 kills of freshman middle hittter Rebekah Maddox. Kelsey Toler notched 13 kills with Megi Jones serving nine points while adding 18 assists.

Thursday night, Du Quoin will host a strong Steeleville squad on Senior Night.

Prior to the match, DHS will honor seniors Staci Davis and Nastia Campanella.

Du Quoin vs. Herrin

Kelsey Toler: 13 kills,3 digs, 6-7 serves, 2 aces.

Rebekah Maddox: 14 kills, 2 digs, 4 blocks.

Jessica Hirsch: 6 kills, 15 digs, 12-12 serves, 7 points, 1 aces.

Ashley Ward: 1 kill, 2 assists, 4 digs.

Staci Davis: 1 kill, 11 assists, 1 dig, 13-13 serves, 7 points.

Curry Emling: 1 kill.

Megi Jones: 18 assists, 4 digs, 12-12 serves, 9 points.

Cassidy Rice: 16 digs, 8-8 serves, 4 points.

Keawna Anders: 7 digs, 10-10 serves, 4 points, 1 ace.

TUESDAY'S LATE STATISTICS

Trico 25-24-25,

Du Quoin 17-26-18

Rebekah Maddox: 13 kills, 1 assist. 6 blocks.

Kelsey Toler: 10 kills, 3 digs, 13-13 serves, 6 points, 1 ace, 3 blocks.

Keawna Anders: 1 kill, 3 digs, 14-14 serves, 7 points, 1 ace, 1 block.

Staci Davis: 1 kill, 6 assists, 2 digs, 10-11 serves, 5 points, 1 ace, 2 blocks.

Megi Jones: 1 kill, 10 assists, 1 dig, 4-6 serves, 2 points.

Ashley Ward: 2 assists, 2 digs, 0-1 serves.

Cassidy Rice: 12 digs, 10-10 serves, 5 points,

Jessica Hirsch: 9 digs, 5-6 serves, 1 point.

-Jeff Profitt contributed