After sweeping Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial in Lake Crystal on Tuesday, the varsity Clipper girls had to go five games with Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman in Granada on Thursday before emerging as the victor.
The non-conference Knights, who came into the match with a 3-2 loss to Alden-Conger and a 3-0 win over St. James Area, used their height and athletic ability to make a few runs, but the Clippers kept them out of system for runs of their own, said head coach Dave Nixon.
“We rely heavily on our volleyball IQ, knowing what shots to hit when. We talk about when you can’t take a big swing, look for what shots are open. When we are finding the court with those shots, the opponent in turn doesn’t get to take big swings. Even if we gave it to them and made setters play defense and placed the ball in certain places, it’s hard for them to get their offense going. When Lake Crystal got a good pass, they were really good, but we were able to serve well enough and hit good enough shots to keep them out of system.”
A Melia Sathoff ace serve was the first point of game one. With a couple of Maile Meissner ace blocks in the mix, the Clippers went in front 6-4. After a Taylor McCabe sharp kill and then a pair of ace rolls, one from the back row, the Clippers led 8-5.
Later, libero Delaney Thompson airmailed a couple of ace serves, and setter Jocelyn Kortuem sent a fake set over for a winner. After two more Sathoff kills, the Clippers won 25-19 when the Knights couldn’t put together a return.
LCWM went on a six-point spurt to start game two, but the Clippers methodically worked their way back to go in front 16-15 on a Thomson ace serve. They never trailed from there, and, after Sathoff faked a kill for an ace tip, the game ended 25-23 when the Knights hit a ball over the boundary line.
The Clippers shanked two Knight serves to start game three. McCabe’s kill was the first winer for the Clippers, but they still trailed 5-3. After another Kortuem feigned set followed by a McCabe attack, they went in front 11-10.
The Knights had trouble keeping the ball in play, and with a McCabe kill among the errors, the Clippers went ahead 17-11. Down the stretch, Sathoff rattled off a pair of cross-court kills, and the game ended 25-18 on a McCabe kill.
Sathoff led the attack squad with 14 kills. McCabe had 10 kills. Kortuem had five kills. Thompson, Keira Schipper and Meissner each had one kill. Kortuem set up 27 points. Thompson assisted two points, and McCabe and Sathoff each had one set assist. Kortuem and Meissner assisted each other on two ace blocks.
Thompson served four aces. Sathoff sent over two ace serves. Luci Blaschko had one ace serve.
Thompson lifted 27 digs. Sathoff boosted 16 digs. McCabe and Blaschko each had eight digs. Kortuem had seven digs. Meissner had three digs. Amelia Chmiel had two digs. Aubrey Blaschko had one dig.
Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman came into the Thursday match 2-0 with wins over Sleepy Eye and USC. The Clippers lost the first game 25-22, came back to win the second game 25-21 and the third game 25-16. They fell again to the Jaguars 25-21 in the fourth game but held on in the short game for a 15-12 victory.
Sathoff had 28 Kills, one set assist, two service aces in a 10-11 serving effort, 25 digs and one solo block. McCabe had 23 kills, one set assist, one ace serve in a 13 for 15 serving effort and 26 digs. Kortuem had five kills, 40 set assists, 33 digs, one solo block and three assisted blocks. She safely landed all 12 of her serves. Thompson had 37 digs, eight set assists, was 29 for 29 from the service line with one ace. Luci Blaschko had seven digs, one set assist and was 26 for 26 serving with two ace serves. Schipper had three kills, one set assist, six digs, two solo blocks and one block assist. Meissner had one dig and two assisted blocks. Aubrey Blaschko had one kill, two set assists and five digs. Kaitlyn Flowers was four for six from the serving line with one ace. Cheyenne Lotspeich was one for two serving. Anna Lamont was two for two serving.
Lake Crystal went on to beat the Clippers in the Waterville tournament championship on Saturday. The Clippers hosted former section rival Mayer Lutheran the following Tuesday and fell in three hard-fought games. See separate story.
Above: Keira Schipper watches her hit clear the webbing.
Luci Blaschko on the bump.
Libero Delaney Thompson hoists a LCWM serve.
Taylor McCabe uncoiled 10 kills in the match at Lake Crystal.
Kaitlyn Flowers stretches to make a save.
Melia Sathoff goes up for a block.