Forest City put an end to Clear Lake’s volleyball season in the opening match of Regional play Monday, Oct. 17, but not without a strong fight.
The Lions came out ready to play and captured game one, 25-21. However, the Indians won the next three by close scores (26-24, 25-21, 25-21) to advance.
“We came out so strong in the first set and a half, and I was happy to see that,” said Coach Heather Johnson. “Then we just slowly lost steam— never really giving up, but not able to score when we needed to.”
That never-give-up attitude is something Johnson said she saw plenty of this season and is what she is most proud of.
“I’m extremely proud of this year’s team on their commitment and progress this season surpassing a lot of our goals. It’s been a long time since we have ended with a winning record.”
Clear Lake finished the season with a 17-15 record. They were 4-3 in North Central Conference matches, placing them in a three-way tie for third place in NCC standings.
In the Forest City match, Xada Johnson had an exceptional match, both offensively and defensively. The junior recorded 26 kills and was 15/16 serving with two aces. On defense she made three blocks, one of them solo, and had a team-high 29 digs.
Senior Hannah Blaha led the team in blocks with six, one of them solo. She was also 15/16 at the service line with two aces.
Senior Carsyn Holland set up the Lion offense with 20 assists.
The Lion program says good-bye to eight seniors who helped to lift the team to new heights this season. In addition to Blaha and Holland, Makella Jacobs, Jordan Mayland, Macey Holck, Brooklyn Eden, Lily James and Ava Richtsmeier competed in their final volleyball match as Lions.
“The seniors really did a great job of leading our team and they will be hard to replace and their balanced demeanor will be missed,” said Coach Johnson. “Although we were all extremely disappointed in the outcome of the match, we recognized we just didn’t want this fun season to end! I was extremely lucky to get to coach all these awesome student-athletes.”
