Giving the Clippers a Halloween scare early, visiting Springfield went in front right off the bat in game one on Monday in the first round of the section tournament.
But the number two seeded Clippers regrouped and came back to win the game before ultimately doing what they were supposed to do: sweeping the 15th-ranked Tigers.
The Tigers had a couple of ace serves in the rally and several kills too, but head coach Dave Nixon said putting the kibosh on both came down to the Clippers setting up to defend the deep serves and making better passes so the hitters could do their job.
“That can happen against anybody. If a team comes out serving hot, serving aggressively and serving deep, you can get in a rut right away. If you can’t make a good touch, that makes hitting a lot harder. We just had to back up on the court and be better on first contact, both digging and serve receive, so we can get some offense going and make it harder on them.”
The victory sends the Clippers to the second round, where they will take on seventh-ranked New Ulm Cathedral in Arlington on Thursday. Cathedral earned the right to play the Clippers when they beat 10th-ranked Madelia in five games. The winner of that game takes on the winner of third-seeded Cedar Mountain vs sixth-ranked BOLD at St. Peter High School on October 28.
After a Delaney Thompson ace serve and a Taylor McCabe kill for the first Clipper points of game one, visiting Springfield rallied for eight of the next nine points to lead 9-3.
But, after making the defensive adjustments, the Clippers, mixed up their offense with an ace tip and ace spike from Melia Sathoff, an ace serve from McCabe and a Maile Meissner assisted ace block that deadlocked the game at nine apiece.
For a while, Springfield kept up, but later with a Sathoff kill, the Clippers again tied the game, this time 14-14. It was the start of a five-point spurt, and the Clippers never looked back from there.
“Early on it was just too easy for them because they were getting shots and free balls back,” Nixon said. “Once we could get into our offense and take some big swings, that’s when we came back.”
With McCabe on the warpath the rest of the way, the Clippers went on to win the game 25-16.
With Sathoff and McCabe teaming up on the attack, the Clippers scored the first dozen points of game two. Never getting their offense off the ground, the Tigers only managed six points, and the game ended on a Sathoff serve that dived into open slot near the net.
With additional players getting game time, the Tigers hung around in game three and even took the lead late when a five-point rally, which included an ace serve and three kills, put them in front 22-21.
But their ensuing serve flew headlong into the net, and Keira Schipper reached for an ace block on the next point for a 23-22 Clipper advantage. The Tigers stalemated the game at 23 with a kill but errored near the net on the next point before the game ended 25-23 on a Jocelyn Kortuem kill.
With 15 kills, McCabe paced the attack squad. Sathoff sent down 11 kills. Schipper totaled six kills. Meissner swatted three kills. Kortuem dispatched a pair of winners. Liviana Lee and Aubrey Blaschko each contributed a kill.
Kortuem was the catalyst for 30 points. Thompson passed for a pair of set assists. Lee and Luci Blaschko each set up one point.
Sathoff airmailed eight aces from behind the service line. McCabe dished up four ace serves.
Schipper was a part of four ace blocks. Sathoff and Kortuem each assisted with two ace blocks. Meissner and Blaschko each deflected one ace block.
Thompson and Kortuem each scooped up 10 digs. McCabe elevated eight digs. Sathoff and Luci Blaschko each hoisted seven digs. Schipper raised two digs. Lee, Taylor Wolf, Kaitlyn Flowers and Valentina Rohlfing each unearthed one dig.
In the section tournament, Cedar Mountain beat USC 3-1 while BOLD swept Sleepy Eye. On the other side of the section bracket, top-ranked BLHS swept 16-seeded GFW and will take on ninth-ranked Martin Luther/GHEC/Truman, which upset eighth-ranked Mankato Loyola 3-0. Fourth Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s swept 13th-seeded Nicollet and will take on fifth-ranked Martin County West, which swept Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey, the 12 seed.
Thursday will be the third time Cleveland will have met Cathedral on the court this season. In both prior meetings the scrappy Greyhounds took a game. The Clippers opened their season with a 3-1 win over NUC. Reunited 16 days later during pool play at the Waterville tournament, it was a 2-1 Clipper triumph.
Above: Organized by assistant coach April Thompson, the Clippers held an autograph session, assembly style, after the win.
Melia Sathoff watches her hit glide past a blocker.
Maile Meissner swings for a point.
Jocelyn Kortuem stretches for a save. Waiting for the pass is Ava Kluntz.
Luci Blaschko pulls up a serve receive.
Taylor McCabe extends for a dig.
Between games, members of the fifth-grade volleyball team and the two sixth-grade volleyball teams were recognized for winning their end-of-the season tournaments, which were held in St. Peter. The two sets of sixth-grade Clippers could have played each other in a championship game but, wanting all their classmates to have a share of the title, chose not to compete against each other. The fifth graders were coached by Katie Wolf and Michelle Wildmer while the sixth-grade teams were coached by Heather Smith and Brianna Hoffmann.
It was black out night in the student section.