Triad Volleyball Nears Postseason

By Anthony Jones, Sportswriter

The Oct. 25 postseason match between Triad and Highland volleyball continues to inch closer, as the Lady Knights finished another week’s slate of action.

Their week began on Oct. 11 with a visit to the Civic Memorial Eagles. The Mississippi Valley bout had clear stakes as Triad, Civic Memorial and Jersey are battling for fourth place in the conference.

There was little separation in the first set, but the Bethalto birds escaped with a 25-23 victory. Civic Memorial won the second set as well, this time with a wider margin of 25-19.

Two days later, the Lady Knights returned to their home court for another conference fight as Waterloo came to town. This regular season home finale also served as senior night for Triad’s Abby Kesterson and Kenna Dooley.

“I am so blessed to have those two seniors in this program. They are absolutely amazing young women,” Coach Jami Parker said of the fourth year duo.

She also added, “They make good choices on and off the court. This year, our gym is so inclusive and it’s all because of the leadership of those two girls. They spend time paying attention to everybody in the gym and making sure that everybody in the gym is included.”

During the game, the 18-5 Bulldogs took set one by a tally of 25-19. They closed out the night in the second set with a 25-14 victory.

Over Oct. 14 and 15, Triad competed in the O’Fallon tournament. Here, the Lady Knights would win their first match in 25-19,25-20 fashion over East St. Louis.

The next four matches were not so kind to a shorthanded Triad squad, who would lose against the likes of Rochester, Breese Central, Pekin and O’Fallon.

One regular season game remains on the schedule for the Lady Knights, who will visit Jersey on Oct. 18. Their regular season finale will play a role in determining if Triad can wedge themselves into fourth place in the conference.

Coach Parker talked over the importance of their final contest before the playoffs begin, “You always want to finish the season with a win, so we’re gonna go out there and work for it. We’ve taken several injuries right now, we’re down three starters, so hopefully we’ll have a couple of them back up and running by next week. But I have to say that these younger kids are doing a really nice job going in and working hard.”