DHS spikers win 22nd match of season

DU QUOIN - The Du Quoin volleyball team split a pair of conference matches this past week and earned its 22nd victory of the season in the process.

The Indians fell in three sets to conference tournament champion, Pinckneyville, but swept Sparta.

Things were looking good for Du Quoin after it beat the Panthers 25-17 in the opening set, but PCHS stormed back for 25-10 wins in the second and third sets after that.

"We came out, and the crowd was into it, and we took them down, but I don't think Pinckneyville played very well early on," said Du Quoin coach Isaac Miller. "I don't get too excited in the first set because it's a match, and you have to focus on the next one. They came out and took it to us after that."

Gabrielle Alongi had three aces and eight digs against Pinckneyville. But the Panthers held Du Quoin's big hitters in check at the net.

"I told our team that we played careful and that we weren't risking it enough," Miller said. "We play other teams, and we go up and hit hard. Against Pinckneyville, we play too tentatively. We just roll a shot or tip instead of going up and swinging at them. They've got big blockers at the net and maybe that makes us a little nervous. That's kind of how that match went."

Du Quoin bounced back and beat Sparta 25-9, 25-16. That moved the Indians to 5-3 in conference matches.

"The Sparta match was completely different, and I think it's a mental game because we go up and swing hard against them," Miller said. "We have beaten some other teams worse than Pinckneyville and Nashville have beaten them. I think it's just in our head that we're supposed to win this against some of the other teams. So, we are a little bit riskier. We've got to do that against some of the tougher teams."

Elizabeth Bird, Lauren Heape and Jalynn Wood each tallied seven kills in the Sparta match. Sophie Miller added 15 assists, and Bird also contributed six total blocks.

"Our serving was excellent against Sparta and that had a lot to do with it," Miller said. "We got a lot of free balls back off the serve and then we just teed off a little bit. You're not going to have that type of match against Pinckneyville, it's going to be more back and forth."

Du Quoin (22-8) has matches against Trico (Monday), Anna-Jonesboro (Tuesday) and a big one on the road against Nashville (Thursday) this week.

"We've done everything that I've asked the girls to do, and it's been a great season," Miller said. "One of our goals was to finish in the top two in the conference, and we've got a chance to do that Thursday night if we can knock off Nashville. We'll see what happens. We're looking forward to it."