South subsection ninth seed Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman came to town on Thursday but didn’t give top ranked Cleveland much of a scare in a 3-0 Clipper sweep.
The Clippers will travel to St. Peter on Tuesday to take on fifth-seeded Springfield in a 6:00 contest. The Tigers upset fourth-ranked Madelia 3-0.
“We are much more familiar with Madelia and not very familiar with Springfield,” said head coach Dave Nixon, “So we’ll watch some film and talk to Madelia, but we’re just excited to move on.”
Harley Connor’s ace tip was the first point in game one. Ava Hahn followed up with a kill. The Jaguars scored the next two points, and from there the Clippers had a five-point run but so did the Jags for a 7-7 tie.
Sarena Remiger (above) pitched over a winner for the start of a four-point Clipper spurt that finished when Hahn’s serve rolled over the net and onto the floor.
The Clippers had 16 days between playoffs and their last regular season game, but to avoid coming out as zombies, they scrimmaged rival Alden-Conger on Monday, and that helped get them into a competitive mood, Remiger said.
“I don’t know about the team, but I think I got a little rusty, but it came back, and we got into it.”
Nixon didn’t think the Clippers lost anything in the hiatus, but he said they were eager to return to the court.
“We had more hitting errors in the first set than I would have liked. I wouldn’t say we were rusty, but we were anxious to play.”
The Clippers couldn’t keep the ball in bounds on the next two points but won 12 of the next 16, and the game ended 25-15 on a Hahn kill.
With the Clipper down 2-0 in game two, Lexy Waldron hit for back-to-back kills, and Savannah Meyer dished up an ace serve. The Jags hung around for a while though for an 8-8 tie before they got ticketed for a carry. The infraction was the start of a five-point Clipper surge that featured a Connor block and a Waldron kill.
Connor’s ace serve put the Clippers in front 21-13. Greta Hahn followed with an ace tip, and Remiger swatted a kill for the last Clipper winner. The game ended 25-17 when the Jaguar’s couldn’t keep a serve in bounds.
The Clippers fell behind 4-0 in game three, but Ava Hahn dropped a couple of hits to the floor for the first Clipper points. The Jaguars went out of bounds on the next three points and Savannah Meyer sent over an ace serve that put the Clippers in front 6-4.
The Jags managed to take the next two points, but the rest of the game was all Clippers. With a couple of Laci Hollerich ace serves and kills from Ava Hahn and Remiger, the Clippers were in front 15-8.
Melia Sathoff had a hot hand down the stretch, and after a Jersie Kelley kill, the game ended 26-13 when the Jaguars couldn’t coordinate a return.
Nixon said the goal for the night against a team they also swept during the regular season was to cap the number of errors and make good decisions while still being aggressive.
“We have to clean up some things, but we set some goals like limiting our serving errors to five or less and we met that goal as a team. We wanted to get 10 more kills than hitting errors in each set, but we didn’t achieve that one.”
Another goal was to get more players on the floor, and they achieved that, he said.
Greta Hahn scattered 27 set assists among eight hitters. Ava Hahn haunted the Jaguars with 11 kills. Waldon had six kills. Remiger and Sathoff each had five kills. Connor had four kills. Hollerich had two kills. Kelley had one kill. Greta Hahn also had a kill of her own. Sophie Perkins propped up three set assists.
Waldron put up one solo ace block. Remiger assisted with two ace blocks. Avah Hahn and Connor each had one block assist.
Emma Sweere unburied a dozen digs. Ava Hahn had eight digs, and Meyer had seven digs
Frightening from the service line, Meyer landed in bounds all 16 of her serves with a trio of them aces. Hollerich and Connor each had a pair of ace serves. Ava Hahn and Sweere each had one ace serve.
Elsewhere in the south, MCW beat Mountain Lake Ares, and Cedar Mountain topped JWP. In the North, Mayer Lutheran rolled over Nicollet and will take on Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s, which beat its cross-town rival Sleepy Eye Public. New Ulm Cathedral won over BLHS and will take on BOLD, which beat GFW.
Greta Hahn on the fake set. It landed to the floor for a winner.
Harley Connor at your service.
Lexy Waldron and Laci Hollerich leap for a block attempt.
Melia Sathoff on the attack.
Emma Sweere on the dig.
Laci Hollerich swings through a hit.
Ava Hahn watches her attack slide by a Jaguar blocker.
Savannah Meyer had a good night from the service line.
Jersie Kelley winds through a kill.
The Pep Band was on hand.
Not on a harp but on the bass guitar was Dacota Lotspeich as an angel.
Gabe Sullivan, Brady Bostic and Carter Barto in costume.
The student section was a ghoulish place.
It was the last home game of the year for the Clippers. They are, from L-R, Jersie Kelley, Chole Anderson, Greta Hahn, Emma Sweere, Ava Hahn, Lacey McCabe and Savannah Meyer. Head coach Dave Nixon, manager Addie Gibeau, manager Madison Peterson, Sarena Remiger, Harley Connor, Laci Hollerich, Maya Lassiter, Lexy Waldron, Jocelyn Bartell, Melia Sathoff, Sophie Perkins, Assistant coach Bree Meyer, and assistant coach Ellie Johnson.
Players and spooks