Notre Dame volleyball team finishes 4th in tourney

The Notre Dame boys volleyball team took fourth place at Saturday's 12-team O'Fallon Township Invitational Tournament in O'Fallon, Illinois.

Pool play began Friday with the 12 teams being divided into four pools with three teams in each pool. The Bulldogs defeated Belleville West (Ill.) 25-22, 15-25, 16-14 in their first pool play game. Rhett Simmons tallied seven kills and John Fennewald added five kills while Evan Landewee dished out 18 assists. The Bulldogs then swept Metro-East Lutheran (Edwardsville, Ill.) 25-22, 25-13. Simmons once again led with 10 kills and Fennewald recorded eight kills. Blake Dunlap served four aces for the Bulldogs.

Notre Dame began bracket play on Saturday with a straight-set victory over Oakville 25-17, 25-16. Fennewald had five kills and Austin Williams added four kills to help the Bulldogs advance to the semifinals where they fell to Edwardsville (Ill.) 23-25, 14-25. Simmons had seven kills and Fennewald added six kills while Landewee dished out 17 assists for Notre Dame in the loss, which sent the Bulldogs to the third-place game with Belleville West. The Bulldogs were victorious in the first set 25-13, but the Maroons came out on top in the next two sets 25-18, 15-8 to avenge a loss to the Bulldogs in pool play. Simmons led with eight kills and Fennewald added five kills, while Landewee contributed 20 assists for the Bulldogs.

Simmons and Fennewald were also named to the all-tournament team.

Notre Dame (18-7) returns to the St. Louis Metro Area on Monday when the Bulldogs will take on Chaminade College Preparatory.

-- From staff report