Lady Jackets show impressive effort at 2010 Elverado Class 1A Volleyball Regional
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Chester High School Lady Yellow Jackets Volleyball Team continued their late-season winning streak Wednesday October 27 at the 2010 Class 1A IHSA Regional hosted at Elverado High School.
No. 5 seeded Chester came into the regional on a five-game winning streak and kept that streak alive with a decisive win over No. 4 Steeleville in their opening match at 6:30 p.m. The Jackets eliminated Steeleville in two hard-fought games, 25-23 and 25-14, to improve to 12-12 overall.
Against Steeleville senior Taylor Crum paced the Jackets offensively with 11 points and one kill. Taylor marks, a junior, scored seven points followed by Shelby Long (8) and Sydney Haberberger (4).
Jordan Clendenin, a senior, added two points and two kills while fellow senior Ashley Andrews recorded two blocks and a kill. Seniors Tiffani Marshall and Britney Schroeder had three kills and two kills respectively and junior Megan Marcinkowska served two points in the win.
Chester played hard and seemed to feed on the momentum created by their early success in the first game. In their second game the Lady Jackets never looked back and steam-rolled the Lady Warriors, 25-14, to advance to the semi-finals immediately following their first match.
In the first match of the night at 5:30 p.m. No. 1 Trico advanced to the semi-final match at 7:30 p.m. against CHS by beating No. 8 seed Christ Our Savior Lutheran High School in Evansville.
In the night cap match No. 1 Trico hosted No. 5 Chester at 7:30 p.m. Trico played in the first match and had an hour to rest up during the Steeleville vs. Chester match. Chester, on the other hand, had only a few minutes to rest after their match against Steeleville. In the third game of the three-game match against Trico the Lady Jackets did seem to be negatively effected by the fatigue factor.
The Jackets came out strong in the first game against Trico with a very decisive win over the Lady Pioneers, 25-14. Momentum seemed to carryover from the win against Steeleville and the Jackets cruised past Trico with confidence and style.
In the second game of the match it appeared as if the Jackets might just keep rolling, but late in the game fatigue took mover and Chester let Trico back in the game. The Lady Pioneers ended strong and forced a third, tie-breaking game with a 17-25 win over CHS.
The third deciding game seemed to be as if it would be all Trico and the Lady Pioneers cruised to an early 2-11 lead, but the Jackets battled back to create a most exciting, competitive game.
The Lady Jacket seniors knew it was their last chance to continue their season and played hard to keep the dream alive of a regional championship. Underclassmen chipped in as well and the Jackets fought right up until the end before losing to the No. 1 seeded Trico Pioneers, 23-25.
Chester had a lead at the end of the game 23-22, but could not get the ball to drop in the right places to seal the win. Trico edged the Lady Yellow Jackets down the stretch to win, 25-23. From the bleachers it definitely appeared as if fatigue played a role in allowing Trico to sneak by in the final few serves. CHS played with heart, however, and never let down or made it easy for the No. 1 seeded Trico.
In the match junior Shelby Long led the Jackets in points served with 10 points, three aces and three digs. Sydney Haberberger followed with seven huge points served while senior Shelly Lyons contributed seven points and six very impressive digs.
Senior Taylor Crum ended her high school career in proud fashion leading the team with 17 assists. She also added five points served, two aces, a pair of digs and two kills. Fellow senior, Tiffani Marshall, had a great night serving four points, slamming 11 kills and dishing out two assists. She also added one dig in her final match.
Ashley Andrews, another CHS senior, did not go down without a fight as she fought at the net all night long with two huge blocks and two kills. Andrews also had a key dig to keep the Jackets alive.
All of the CHS seniors contributed to the success of the Jackets as Britney Schroeder slammed four kills and had a nice dig and Jordan Clendenin banged two kills and recorded a dig.
Rounding out the jackets' effort were juniors Megan Marcinkowska who recorded three points, one of which was an ace and Taylor marks had one point.
The Jackets ended their 2010 season with a very respectable record of 12-13 overall and Chester ended their inaugural season in the Black Diamond Conference with a most impressive record of 6-4.
Following the match CHS Head Coach, Karen Bert, stated, "I am very happy with the way the ladies played tonight. To be down, 2-11, and come back and lose by only two points against the No. 1 seed is very impressive. I am very proud of the girls." Bert was assisted this year by Becky Vieregge, JV Coach, Glen Long, Freshman Coach and Kelly Moeller, Volunteer Assistant Coach.