VOLLEYBALL: Du Quoin hangs on for win over Elverado

Elverado fought off six match points in the third and deciding set on Monday night at Du Quoin, but finally, the Lady Indians grabbed the win as Alaina Caldwell tipped the ball into an open corner for 25-20, 12-25, 25-23 victory.

"We finished the game with a smart play," said DHS head coach Jo Dill. "Alaina saw that the girl was sucked in and she shot that ball right to the back corner. You don't have to win on a kill or a block, you just have to win by putting the ball down, and that's what we did."

After a dominant second set, Elverado looked finished down 24-17 in the third. Timeouts by both teams were followed by six straight points by the Lady Falcons, but it wasn't enough.

"Well, we gave it all we had," said EHS head coach Donette Wheatley. "It was a battle. We gave them too many free balls and they have too many hitters to do that. When we played offense, we got a few kills. We have to do that all the time."

Du Quoin built a 14-5 lead in the first set before the Lady Falcons started to settle in. Elverado slowly chipped away at the deficit, but got no closer than four down at 24-20.

The second set started out as an even fight with the teams sitting tied 6-6, but Elverado took the next dozen points to help even the match at a set apiece.

The final game was 10-10 until the Lady Indians scored six straight points to build a lead they never let go of.

"Something I stress is playing your game," Dill said. "Serve aggressively, pass, set, hit, don't get into tipping wars with teams, don't play to the level of your competition. I think (early in the first set and towards the middle of the third) we were doing those things, and then we had some stretches where we let up and let them back into the game. Sometimes when we let a team back into a game, we start to play a little bit tight."

Kenzie Jackson had 8 kills to lead Du Quoin's offense, Rylea McDonald added 4. Katie Smith led the Lady Indians in digs with six. Caldwell had 14 assists.

For the Lady Falcons, Allie Whittington and Tori Ehlers each finished with 4 kills, Ehlers also led digs with 7. Haily Falter added 6 digs. Emma Bigham tallied 5 assists.

Elverado was the winner of both the junior varsity and freshman matches, taking J-V in three sets, the freshman match in two.

"I will take five out of eight games," Wheatley said.

Du Quoin (4-10) is at Anna-Jonesboro on Thursday. Elverado (6-6) hosts Agape on Tuesday, and heads to Goreville on Thursday.