A sweep in Alden on Tuesday earned the Clipper girls the Valley Conference title and gave them the right to host Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s at 7:00 p.m. today (Monday) in the Tomahawk/Valley Conference championship.
The Clippers will be defending their title of a year ago, when they won over Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart. Earlier in the season, the Clippers swept SESM on the road.
The Knights, who have been the Clippers’ biggest rival over the years when it came to the Valley title, came into Tuesday’s game with a 3-3 conference record and were 17-8 overall.
Alden-Conger put up a good fight against the Clippers in game one, only falling 25-23, but the other two games were all Clippers in wins of 25-10 and 25-11.
With 17 kills, Melia Sathoff led the offensive attack. She also had five digs and one ace serve. Taylor McCabe sent over 15 kills. She scraped 13 digs and served one ace. Maile Meisner had five kills. Keira Schipper and Liviana Lee each had three kills. Kenzie Kortuem chipped in a kill.
Jocelyn Kortuem set for 36 points and hoisted six digs. She also had two kills of her own and served one ace. Delaney Thompson scooped 18 digs. She also set up two points and served three aces. Luci Blaschko and Kaitlyn Flowers each set up one kill. Blaschko hoisted eight digs. Flowers elevated two digs. Amelia Chmiel lifted five digs.
Jocelyn Kortuem stretched for one solo ace block and three ace block assists. Meisner had one solo ace block and four ace block assists. Sathoff, Schipper, Lee, Aubrey Blaschko and Kenzie Kortuem each had one ace block assist.
Goodhue tournament
The Saturday before, the Clippers threepeated as the Goodhue Invite Tournament champions, sweeping all four opponents: La Crescent-Hoka (25-14, 25-16) and Spring Grove (25-14, 25-15) in pool play and then Rushford-Peterson (25-14, 25-16) in bracket play before beating Spring Grove again in the championship, 25-13, 25-23.
On the day, Sathoff added 50 kills to her resume. She also had one set assist, 19 digs, four ace block assists and six service aces. McCabe totaled 27 kills, two set assists, 26 digs and two ace serves. Schipper had two kills and two block assists. Lee had four kills, one dig and two ace block assists. Aubrey Blaschko had six kills and one solo ace block.
Jocelyn Kortuem set up 85 points and swung for seven kills of her own. She also had 16 digs, four ace block assists and six service aces. Chmiel had two digs.
Thompson had 35 digs, one kill, eight set assists and three service aces. Luci Blaschko had 17 digs, one kill, two set assists and a pair of ace serves. Kaitlyn Flowers had four set assists, three digs and one ace serve. Cheyenne Lotspeich had three digs. Meissner had three kills, one set assist, seven digs and three ace block assists. Kenzie Kortuem had seven kills, two set assists, one solo ace block and six block assists. Natalie Flowers had two kills. Hadley Thompson served an ace.
Vs Martin County West
On the Thursday before the Goodhue tourney, the Clippers had a rare game loss when they hosted Martin County West, the eventual Valley runner-up. Game scores for the Senior Night and Parents Night were 25-12, 25-21, 22-25 and 25-22.
The match started with a McCabe kill. Game one ended when McCabe followed an ae block with a kill.
The Mavericks, taking advantage of a kill and a trio of Clipper hitting errors, put up the first four points of game two. Sierra Lotspeich, just in, fired a kill to get the Clippers on the board.
Aubrey Blaschko's ace block put the Clippers in front 19-14, but the Mavericks, strong on the attack, refused to give up and won four out of the next five points before the game ended on a McCabe kill followed by a Sathoff kill.
Knowing that they could play with the Clippers, the Mavericks spurted for seven points in game two to lead 14-10 and never trailed after. With kills off the hands of McCabe and Sathoff and a MCW hitting error, the Clippers pulled within two, 18-16, but the Mavericks kept on the attack and won the game on a kill.
A Sathoff kill was the first point of game four. After two more Sathoff kills and a hands-over-net infraction, the Clippers took a 4-3 lead, and, although the Mavericks never got far behind, the Clippers maintained an advantage the rest of the game. It ended on a Sathoff kill.
With 22 kills, McCabe paced the Clipper offense. She also had two set assists, 10 digs, one block assist and one ace serve. Sathoff spiked 19 kills. She also lifted nine digs and airmailed a trio of service aces. Meissner swung for a personal record nine kills. She also extended for one solo ace block and one ace block assist. Schipper had four kills, one set assist and one ace block assist. Aubrey Blaschko had five kills, one dig and one solo ace block.
Jocelyn Kortuem set up 49 points. She also racked up 14 digs, one kill of her own, one ace block assist and three service aces. Delaney Thompson had 16 digs, two set assists and two service aces. Luci Blaschko totaled 10 digs, three set assists and one ace serve. Kaitlyn Flowers had one kill, one set assist, two digs and one ace serve. Sierra Lotspeich contributed one kill.
Above: The Clippers gather for a photo after sweeping host Alden-Conger to win the Valley Conference. They are, from L-R, front row: Assistant coach Madisyn Schrom, Cheyenne Lotspeich, Sierra Lotspeich, Kaitlyn Flowers, Anna Lamont, Amelia Chmiel, Delaney Thompson, Taylor McCabe, Luci Blaschko, Natalie Flowers and Hadley Thompson. Back row: Head coach Dave Nixon, manager Neenah Lassiter, Aubrey Blaschko, Melia Sathoff, Keira Schipper, Ava Kluntz, Jocelyn Kortuem, Kenzie Kortuem, Liviana Lee, Maile Meissner, assistant coach April Thompson and assistant coach Maddie Keischutt. (photo courtesy of April Thompson)
Keira Schipper watches her hit clear the net as Martin County West defenders reach to stop it.
Clippers Maile Meissner, Taylor McCabe and Delaney Thompson watch a hit fall to the floor during the match against MCW.
Taylor McCabe misdirects a hit away from a MCW blocker.
Luci Blaschko bends to receive an MCW serve.
Maile Meissner had a personal record nine kills against MCW.
Melia Sathoff towers for a hit during the MCW match.
Amelia Chmiel digs up an MCW over.
Delaney Thompson props up an MCW serve.
Clippers line up for Parents’ Night.
Clipper Rising Voices, a choir of select students in grades 3-5, performed the school fight song and the “Star Spangled Banner.”
Clipper Rising Voices readies to sing.
The student section at the MCW match was fired up for homecoming week.
After the MCW match, the Clippers recognized the seniors. They are, from L-R, front row: Melia Sathoff, Kaitlyn Flowers, Delaney Thompson, Anna Lamont, Cheyenne Lotspeich and Maile Meissner. Back row: Manager Sajen Grandaw, Taylor McCabe, Amelia Chmiel, Keira Schipper, Liviana Lee and manager Neenah Lassiter.