FC 3, CL 2
In a match that went the distance, the Clear Lake Lions dropped to 2-3 in the North Central Conference and to 8-11 on the season after a tough battle with the Forest City Indians.
Clear Lake had a good battle from the get-go, defeating Forest City 26-24 in the first set, to put the Lions ahead 1-0 in the match and in a good position, but the Indians fought back in the second set to even the score at 1-1 after a 25-20 victory.
Forest City jumped ahead in the match (2-1) after a close victory in set three, winning 25-22.
The Lions held a slim lead late in the set (15-13), prompting a time out by Forest City, which proved to be helpful as the Indians knotted things at 21.
Forest City controlled the narrative after that, outscoring the Lions 3-1 to put the game into set four.
Set four saw a Lion volleyball squad that has shown flashes of potential come into fruition.
Senior Xada Johnson had nearly 12 kills in set four that saw the Lions win 25-17.
Clear Lake started off with an 8-2 lead before Madi Ott helped make it a 10-3 lead.
The Indians utilized another timeout which seemed to calm the Forest City crew which chipped away at the deficit to make it a four-point contest.
The Lions continued their attack and would even things at two each to put us into the fifth set.
The final set went to Forest City after the Lions continued to stay aggressive,but the ball just didn’t fall their way.
Clear Lake fell 15-4 to ultimately lose the match 3-2.
“We really talked a lot this week about getting gritty on defense and playing one ball at a time,” said Lion head coach Heather Johnson. “Xada is super passionate and when she wants that ball she wants that ball and it doesn’t just happen with her. It takes everyone to pass, set and attack.”
The communication has also been lacking in the past but looked to be cleaned up in this contest.
“I’ve, of course, been trying to problem solve things. We have been competitive in matches but we have lost a lot of matches that were winnable for us, in my opinion,” said Johnson. “I think the difference maker is defense. We have been focusing a lot on defense and reading. Nothing hits without effort and it’s the best I’ve seen them translate practice into a match tonight.”
The final set saw the Lions only score four but not for lack of effort.
“We stayed aggressive and it didn’t go our way. We don’t want to stop being aggressive, we just missed some hits,” said Johnson. “We let that last set play us instead of playing that last set. Overall tonight we got better and that’s all you can ask for.”
