CARTERVILLE- The Carterville Lions volleyball team hosted the IHSA 2A regional tournament getting a bye to the semi-finals where they faced the Murphysboro Red Devils, in a game that looked to be in favor of the Red Devils but ended up falling in favor of the Lions’ because of a great comeback (14-25, 25-21, 25-19).

The first set started out close with with both teams staying within a few points of each other. The Lion offense was sparked by Sophomore Dakota Gee, who had a few timely kills to keep the Lions’ in the game.  The Red Devils stayed ahead the whole set until their momentum peaked and they never looked back, outscoring the Lions’ 25-14.

The second set was more of the same for the Red Devils, they got out to a quick lead of 7-2 and were looking to put the Lions’ away. Carterville started to inch their way back getting a few blocks and a kill from Sophomore Mia Congiardo to move the score to 15-7 Red Devils. As the Lions’ started to see their season wash away they clawed their way back to a 24-21 lead which was helped by a serving run from Gee. The Lions’ ended up forcing a third set thanks to a huge set-ending block by Sophomore Layla Yates.

As the third set went on, the Lions’ used their momentum from last set and carried that to the third where they started out with an early lead of 6-4 thanks to a kill by senior Emma Rogers. The rest of the set was back and forth with the Lions’ staying ahead by a few. Carterville got out to their biggest lead of the night at 20-16 because of a beautifully placed line shot kill by Gee. Carterville ended up completing the comeback and taking the third set 25-19.

The Carterville volleyball team will play again in the regional championship on Thursday, October 31st. To keep up with the volleyball team follow @Cartervilleath on Instagram and X.