The Lions notched their third North Central Conference contest in three sets Thursday night at St. Edmond. The Lions topped the Gaels by scores of 25-15, 25-12, 25-23. The Lions are now 3-3 int he conference and 16-14 overall.
“We struggled getting started and finishing, but ended up on top in three,” said Coach Heather Johnson.
The coach noted senior Hannah Blaha had a great night with 10 kills, four blocks, three aces and five digs in the match.
Freshman Alivia Paine also received a shout-out from the coach. Paine is stepping in while senior Macey Holck is recovering from a concussion. “She continues to improve and contributed 16 assists in our outing,” said the coach.
Other notable performances included Xada Johnson and Carsyn Holland at the net. Johnson had 17 kills, while Holland made six kills and had two blocks.
Makella Jacobs paced the team in digs with 16. Johnson was credited with 15 digs and Brooklyn Eden made 10.
At the service line, Jacobs was 13/13 and Ava Richstmeier was 12/12.
Mason City
Tournament
The Lions faced tough competition at the Mason City Tournament held Saturday. They were 1-4.
“Overall, we always just seem to struggle during the Mason City tourney. However, once again, there were small signs of improvement in our program,” said Coach Johnson. “We were able to maintain a winning record; we have not beaten Humboldt since 2010; and since I have been head coach we have not won a single match at the Mason City tourney. So this is our best finish at that tourney since I have been head coach.”
Central Spring 2, CL 0
The Lions started the day with an 0-2 loss to Central Springs, 21-6, 21-17.
“It was a disappointing match for us and we were not ready to play,” said the coach. “Central Springs is a good team and we needed to be way more offensive to have a chance to win. We also struggled with our block timing all match”
Xada Johnson had a team-high three kills in the match and Carsyn Holland made seven assists. Makella Jacobs paced the team in digs with 10.
Osage 2, CL 0
The Lions were also blanked by Osage, 2-0. Scores were 21-13 and 21-8.
“Once again, they are a really good squad and we struggled with serve receive which really impacted our offense game,” Johnson said.
Xada Johnson had four kills to lead her team. Alivia Paine was credited with three assists. Hannah Blaha was a perfect 5/5 serving.
CL 2, Humboldt 1
The Lions regrouped after the Osage match and got a win over Humboldt, 2-1. Scores were 21-19, 15-21, 17-15.
“We talked about prepping ourselves to compete,” Coach Johnson explained. “They ended up doing just that. Our energy improved drastically and we were able to grab the win.”
The Lions amped up their offensive attack, with Carsyn Holland making 10 assists and Xada Johnson making four kills and recorded 11 digs. Hannah Blaha had five blocks in the win.
Mason City 2, CL 0
The Lions fell to Mason City by just four points in two sets, 22-20, 22-20.
“We just got too far down to battle back to come up with the win,” said the coach.
It was a team effort, as Paine made 12 assists, Johnson had five kills and Makella Jacobs made nine digs. Lily James led the team in blocks with three. The Lions served at 97.5 percent, paced by the perfection of Hannah Blaha (9/9), Carsyn Holland (7/7), Alivia Paine (5/5), Makella Jacobs (3/3) and Xada Johnson (2/2).
Waverly-SR 2, CL 0
The Go-Hawks from Waverly-Shell Rock handled the Lions, 21-15, 21-12.
“Once again, I just thought we didn’t quite compete how I know we can,” said the Lion coach. “We were right there with them in some parts of the match, but quite frankly we seemed like we really lost our steam.”
Statistical leaders were Xada Johnson with 2.5 kills and a block. Makella Jacobs had 11 digs and Alivia Paine made five assists and was 4.5 serving with three aces.
Volleyball post-season pairings announced
The Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union has released its pairings for post-season play.
Clear Lake will compete in Class 3A Region 4. The Lions will be at home for their first round match against Forest City on Monday, Oct. 17. Start time is 7 p.m. The winner will advance to take on either Union Community or Eagle Grove in a 7 p.m. match on Oct. 19 at Union High School.
The other side of the Region 4 bracket includes Center Point-Urbana taking on Hampton-Dumont-CAL in the first round and Clarion-Goldfield-Dows against Garner-Hayfield-Ventura.
