Steeleville advanced to the semifinals of its own regional Tuesday but couldn’t get past Cahokia Conference rival Valmeyer 25-16, 25-11.
In set one, the Lady Warriors fell behind early and couldn’t make up the ground. Valmeyer scored the first seven points of the set and never trailed in the match against Steeleville.
Trailing 10-3, kills by Mackenzie Doeding, Alex Gale and freshman Allanah Renner allowed Steeleville to close the gap 12-9 after a 6-2 scoring run. Steeleville, however, couldn’t get any closer as Valmeyer went on to win set one 25-16.
Set two was much closer early on, as kills by Brooke Cates and Renner kept Steeleville close. After the first 14 points of the set, the score was tied 7-7.
However, Valmeyer would take advantage of several Steeleville errors and outscored the Lady Warriors 18-4 the rest of the way for the 25-11 victory.
Renner finished with three kills and two blocks for Steeleville, while Gale had two kills, an assist and six digs.
Valmeyer will take on Gibault in the regional finals.
In the first round of the regional, Steeleville held off Marissa-Coulterville in a three-set battle 25-21, 20-25, 25-20.
Steeleville took advantage of numerous hitting errors by Marissa-Coulterville in set one to win 25-21. Marissa-Coulterville’s Kendra Goss slammed down seven kills in the set but it was not enough. Gale had a key kill late in the set, while Renner came up with a big block.
Steeleville went on a 10-1 scoring run to claim a 20-15 lead after a kill by Renner.
Behind four kills and two blocks by Goss, Marissa-Coulterville scored the next 10 points to steal set two 25-20.
Steeleville got some early offense from Cates, Sara Potter, Renner and Gale, but Marissa-Coulterville stayed close trailing just 13-10. The Lady Warriors took control of the match going on a 5-2 run for an 18-12 advantage.
Goss carried her team on her back and brought them back into the game with four kills as Steeleville’s lead was reduced to just two points 18-16.
A big block from Renner gave Steeleville some momentum, and late kills from Gale and Potter sealed the 25-20 win.
Gale finished with a team-high six kills, while Potter had five. Renner added two kills and seven blocks.