OGD 3, CL 2
It was a heartbreak ending for the Clear Lake Lion volleyball squad Tuesday, Oct. 17, as they traveled to Osage to face the Green Devils in the Class 3A Region 4 matchup on the road to State.
The first meeting between the two teams earlier this year saw Osage win 2-1.
Winning the first set, 25-21, the Lions were excited and ferocious in their attacks with senior leader Xada Johnson who would end up with nearly 32 kills on the night.
The Green Devils attacked back in set two and despite falling into a hole, the Lions tied the game at five points before taking an 11-6 lead.
The Devils wouldn’t back down though, going on a 6-1 run over Clear Lake to knot things up at 12.
Still going back-and-forth, the Lions kept things tied after a Rowan O’Keefe block, but the Clear Lake squad couldn’t hold on and the Green Devils evened the match at one set each after a 25-20 victory.
Set three looked very much the same and went down to the wire as Johnson and O’Keefe led the Lions and kept the Green Devils within striking distance.
Falling behind 21-17, the Lions would eventually fall in the third, 25-18 and head to set four.
Madi Ott started the fourth off with a nice kill for a point before Johnson and Ott combined for a block to get the Lions off to a hot start.
Osage slowed down the Lion pounces, however, and took a 9-5 lead but battling back as they have all night, O’Keefe put her fifth kill of the night on the board and helped the Lions to a 15-13 lead.
The set ended up going to the Lions, winning 25-21 and forcing a fifth set that would go to 15.
The Lions struck first, but Osage quickly answered and climbed to a 4-1 lead very early.
Not to be outplayed, the Lions tied the contest at five each.
Trading blows once more, the two opponents were battling for the win.
Osage began to take the upperhand and led 13-9 before Clear Lake utilized a timeout.
The game sat at 14-9 and ended after a double hit penalty was called, giving Osage the anti-climactic victory and advance them to New Hampton (30-5) and end the Clear Lake Lion season.
“I knew we matched up really well and I knew it was going to be a dogfight tonight,” said Clear Lake head coach Heather Johnson. “This team gets along really well. We haven’t had any intersquad disputes and it’s interesting. We kind of had a terrible practice yesterday and this team really exploits each other and in this game, in volleyball, I think that’s really really important.”
Coach Heather Johnson was proud of her team and the way they handled the season and themselves.
“If you are playing free of the fear of mistakes that’s when you can do some really great things,” said coach Johnson. “I want us to play aggressively, I want us to go down swinging. That comes with errors but that’s how you win matches. I think the seniors have done a great job of being committed and practicing that habit of having each others backs.”
The Lions graduate four seniors including Adrianna Evans, Ella Warnke, Payton McGrath and Xada Johnson.
Johnson was a regular starter for the Lions and the teams go-to hitter for the past three years.
“We will definitely miss that. She did a good job of giving people her knowledge and sharing that,” said coach Johnson. “That will only help our program.”
The team is young and has a bright future ahead of them.
Against Osage, the Lions started one freshman, two sophomores, three juniors and one senior.
“Ella Landau came in right away as a really big talker which, again in volley, is super important so I can see her being a little more of a vocal leader for this team next year,” said coach Johnson. “Alivia Paine, this was only her second year setting so she will be another one. I hope they all try to lead in some way. That’s the goal.”a
