It was an up-and-down week for local high school volleyball action, as one area team improved its conference mark while others took their lumps in weekend tournaments.

Waterloo

Waterloo improved to 10-7 on the season thanks to a lineup reshuffling that resulted in two conference wins.

“I moved around our lineup to get more strengths in needed rotations,” Waterloo head volleyball coach Angie Crawford said. “The girls have done a great job adjusting and working together.”

Last Tuesday against Triad, the Bulldogs won in two straight sets. Mallory Scharf led with 9 points, followed by Kelsey Hamann with 6. Mia Reed registered 8 kills and Sam Kruse added 6.

Hamann led with 22 assists, and Kylie Albrecht led with an 80 serve receive efficiency.

Crawford praised her team’s digging efforts and defense in the win.

Thursday at Jerseyville, the Bulldogs won in two hard-fought sets. Sydney Ratz led the way with 7 points, including 4 aces. Kathryn Finnerty led the way in kills with 10.

Ratz and Megan Gilliam were leaders in serve receive at 83 percent and 80 percent, respectively.

“Our play has been improving, but the speed of our game and the ability to compete with the higher level teams by putting the ball away is still a work in progress,” Crawford said. “I’m very proud of the improvements from my girls.”

Waterloo hosted Civic Memorial Tuesday night in another conference match and will play at Gibault on Thursday night in the annual “Dig Pink” fundraiser for breast cancer awareness.

Columbia

Last week started off strong for the high-flying Columbia Eagles volleyball team, winning conference matches against Carlyle last Tuesday and Breese Central on Thursday, both in two sets.

Over the weekend, the Eagles played in the very competitive Belleville East Metro Classic Tournament, as did the Gibault Hawks.

Columbia put its undefeated season on the line Friday against highly ranked larger school power Belleville West and lost in two back-and-forth sets, 20-25, 23-25.

Colene Hamilton led the way in kills with 6, while Kendall Roessler and Claire Foster each contributed 4 blocks.

Also on Friday, the Eagles lost in three sets to Incarnate Word, 25-23, 20-25, 21-25, despite 13 blocks from Foster, 11 blocks from Roessler and 7 kills by Megan Huffman.

On Saturday, the Eagles bounced back to defeat Central in two sets, and Gibault in three sets, but lost to rival Althoff in three sets.

Huffman led the way in kills against both Gibault and Althoff. Roessler had 5 blocks against Gibault and Foster had 5 blocks against Althoff.

Columbia (21-3) played Tuesday night at Red Bud.

Gibault

The Hawks (14-10) suffered some tough losses last week, but gained some valuable experience in the process.

Following a two-set loss at Belleville West on Thursday, the Hawks faced tough teams Friday night in Mascoutah and Cor Jesu at the Belleville East tourney. Both matches were two-set losses.

Lauren Goldschmidt led the way in kills with 7 against Mascoutah and 8 against Cor Jesu.

On Saturday, the Hawks bounced back with wins against host team Belleville East and Fox before falling in a three-set thriller to Monroe County foe Columbia.

Goldschmidt had 12 kills against Fox and 14 kills against Columbia. Lauren Schmidt had 5 blocks against Fox.

Kelly Dooley also played well, recording 4 aces and 9 kills against Fox and 11 kills and 4 blocks against Columbia.

The Hawks played at Mater Dei on Tuesday, and will host Waterloo on Thursday night.

Valmeyer

The Pirates have been bitten by the illness and injury bugs of late, but are piecing things together as best they can heading into key conference tests.

Valmeyer played in the Carlinville Tournament down two starters but still managed to earn third place in pool play.

Tiffani Brewer was on her way to having a great tournament — racking up 17 kills against Greenville — when she banged her head on the floor while diving for a ball, causing her to miss a few matches.

Jordyn Killy and Blair Brady stepped up their play over the weekend, according to the coaches, and sophomore April Thomason came on strong to provide blocking and much needed help near the net.

“She works hard and brings a level of attitude and enthusiasm that we often miss on the court,” Valmeyer head coach Jenny Kohnz said.

Morgan Redohl was also credited for taking charge of a shorthanded team and keeping the players focused.

Freshman Cierra Goldschmidt stepped up to help Redohl in the passing game.

“Cierra gains more and more confidence every game,” Kohnz said.

Going into Monday’s conference match against Marissa, Valmeyer was minus three starters and others, including coach Kohnz, on the sick side.

Valmeyer still came away with a 25-18, 25-18 win.

Wednesday is a big night for Valmeyer, as they host New Athens with a conference championship on the line.

On Oct. 20, Valmeyer will host Gibault in their annual “Volley for the Cure” contest. Fans are encouraged to dress in pink for the game.