It’s a fun time to be a Clear Lake High School volleyball fan. Last week the Lions had two exciting five set match wins and defeated some opponents that have traditionally overpowered them.
CL 3, Webster City 2
Senior Night on Sept. 27 was extra special for the Lions.
Senior Makella Jacobs extended herself to the fullest to dig out a Webster City return and the resulting kill gave the Lions a 3-2 victory over the Lynx.
The Lions won by scores of 24-26, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 15-13.
“I’m not sure we could have planned a more exciting senior night,” said Coach Heather Johnson. In addition to Jacobs’ heroics, she noted that senior Ava Richtsmeier came back from illness and served well and found ways to contribute in the match. “I thought senior Lily James also had a good match with a few kills and a couple blocks,” she added.
Richtsmeier served at 100 percent, putting in 23 or 23 attempts with five aces. James finished with three kills. Jacobs had a team-high 20 digs.
Seniors Macey Holck, Carsyn Holland and Hannah Blaha were also effective at the service line. Holck went 21/23 and had 11 digs in the win, while Holland was 13/14 serving and had seven kills in the match. Blaha was 12/13 serving and had six kills and two blocks in the match. Senior Brooklyn Eden helped the team with a kill.
Xada Johnson had a match high 27 kills and was really finding ways to score for the team, according to the coach. Johnson was also 17/18 at the service line and had four blocks and 14 digs on defense.
CL 3, Forest City 2
Clear Lake snatched a five-game victory over Forest City for the first time since 2011 in a match played Thursday, Sept. 29. Scores were 15-25, 2522, 25-14, 20-25, 15-11.
“It was another exciting match. We really handled shifts in momentum really well,” said Coach Johnson. “Hannah Blaha really stepped up. We talked about finding ways to impact the match and she did just that!”
Blaha ended the match with six blocks, while teammate Carsyn Holland added five.
Makella Jacobs and Xada Johnson combined for 45 digs on the night.
Offensively, Johnson led with 22 kills, while Holland and Blaha added nine and seven respectively.
Columbus Invitational
The Lions competed in the Columbus Catholic- Waterloo tourney Saturday and ended up 1-3 on the day.
The Lions dropped 0-2 decisions to Marion and Waterloo West.
“Unfortunately, we lost our assist leader, Macey Holck, on the first play of the day, so we made adjustments to our lineup right away,” explained the coach. “We couldn’t quite pull it together against the 4A powerhouse Marion. They are currently ranked second in Class 4A.”
The Lions fell to Marion 21-12, 21-8.
Against Waterloo West, the Lions competed better, but still fell short. Freshman Alivia Paine stepped in to set in Holck’s place and did a very good job for her first varsity setting debut, according to the coach. Scores were 21-15, 21-16.
Clear Lake’s lone win in the tourney came against North Fayette Valley. “We found a little bit of a rhythm and served really well for this win,” said Johnson.
That rhythm was interrupted in a match with Independence. The Lions fell, 2-1 (16-25, 26-24, 8-15).
“We competed to get this match to go into a third set in the consolation bracket of the tournament, but just could not find our rhythm to win. We had been working our new line-up all day and just couldn’t quite find it to win that match,” said the coach. “Overall, it was a good day, but not great. It was really fun going to a new tournament and seeing teams that we normally don’t play. I think we could have gotten a few more wins, but that is not how the day ended. I thought the girls handled the changes in lineups really well.”
This week the Lions resume North Central Conference play at St. Edmond Thursday night, Oct. 6. They are then off for a week as they prepare to travel to Iowa Falls-Alden Oct. 13. The Lions are currently 13-10 overall and 2-3 in the NCC.
