Prep Volleyball: Regional Rejection

Harrisburg High School's volleyball team for a regional championship was put on hold for another year.

Looking for their first crown since 2004, the Bulldogs fell in straight sets to Murphysboro, falling 25-20 and 25-12 Thursday night in the IHSA Class 3A Harrisburg Regional.

"You have to give credit to Murphysboro, they're a good team," Harrisburg head coach Heather Cox said. "They are solid on defense and solid on offense and like I told the girls, they gave it everything they had. They went point-for-point, they tried to go toe-to-toe, sometimes the better team steps up and sometimes it's not you."

Harrisburg had a pair of three-point leads in the first match, leading 4-1 and 9-6. Murphysboro took their first lead at 11-10 and went back-and-forth with the Bulldogs, before taking a five-point, 19-14 lead en route to the 25-20 win.

In the second match, the Red Devils caught fire early, grabbing a 10-2 lead and pushed that advantage to 16-7, before Harrisburg went on a small rally, getting to within 11 at 20-9, before losing 25-12.

Cox and Harrisburg, by virtue got to the championship game after a three-set win over Massac County Tuesday night, didn't feel like they were in the title tilt a year early with just three seniors on the roster and a slew of underclassmen.

"I know a lot of people didn't think we would get the win we got Tuesday night (against Massac County)," Cox said. "I knew from the very first game we played at the (River-to-River) conference tournament against Pinckneyville when they came out and showed me what I saw in the gym all the time that it was there. However, like I have said before, mentally we are just not there yet. When you have a program that hasn't found success, it's hard to believe that you can win. I think they got a little taste of it and fighting for that, but at the end of the day, when they look at that scoreboard and we are winning and we're not supposed to be winning, that's a mental game. That's something we are going to tweak and fix going into next year.

"I'm exited and I think this year gave them a really great taste for volleyball that they haven't had in a while. When you lose to one of the best teams in southern Illinois, you just have to tip your hat to them and move on, learn from it, hope you see them again next year and have a different outcome."