Mehlville Volleyball Falls to Oakville in State Quarterfinals

No matter the sport, the Oakville vs. Mehlville rivalry is one of the best in the St. Louis area.

Fans of the boys volleyball programs at both schools were definitely not disappointed as Oakville defeated Mehlville 26-24, 25-23 in the Missouri Class 4 quarterfinals at Kirkwood Senior High School.

Oakville remains undefeated and Mehlville will end the season 19-10, 7-1 in the Surburban West. 

“You can’t ever overlook Mehlville,” Oakville coach Morgan Lucas said. “They play tremendous defense and they always play with a lot of heart. Whenever we play each other, both teams brought their A-Game.”

For Oakville’s Dan Condra, the final score against the Panthers was much closer than he really wanted it to be. The senior right side hitter thought that the Tigers' previous experience in the playoffs proved to be one of the key elements in winning Monday's game.

“It was a bit too close for comfort, but we were able to pull it through,” he said. “The butterflies really do get to you a lot at the beginning of that first game in the playoffs. So it’s good to have a lot of experience on the team.”

Although Mehlville head coach Dennis Perry was disappointed in the loss to the Tigers, he was proud of the fact that the Panthers rallied several times during each game before coming up short in the final score.

“When it gets down to the end of a game, teams always go to their best players,” Perry said. “We’re always going to play hard because we might not be as tall, we might not be as talented and we might not have as much offense as the teams we play, but we’re going to leave it on the line.”

Mehlville senior libero David Klein was solid on defense against Oakville and has been throughout the 2011 season, leading the Panthers with 328 digs.

“Oakville’s a really good team and we played as hard as we could, but we just couldn’t quite get over the hump,” Klein said. “Hopefully they go on and win because they deserve it. They’re very good.”