V-ball team tops H-D-CAL earns runner-up honors at Algona Tournament

(Above) The Clear Lake volleyball team faced Forest City in the opening round of Regionals Monday night.  The Lions fell to Forest City.  Here Autumn Van  Horn taps the ball over the net while Macey Holck (13) and Grace Meyer look on.  Look for a story and more pictures in next week’s edition of the Clear Lake Mirror-Reporter.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Michelle Watson

It was a successful week for the Clear Lake volleyball team as they posted a victory against Hampton-Dumont and placed second at the Algona Tournament on Saturday.

CL 3, H-D-CAL 0

The Lions made short work of Hampton-Dumont-CAL in their final regular season game of the season on Thursday, Oct. 14.  Clear Lake won with scores of 25-20, 25-11 and 25-15.

“We hit the best we have all season, which was a great confidence booster going into the weekend,” said Coach Heather Johnson.

Xada Johnson had a lot to do with the hitting success for the team, as she recorded a whopping 11 kills.  She also had nine digs and four aces.

Jaden Ainely also had a strong night with 12 digs, two aces and she was a perfect 15/15 at the service line.

Grace Meyer recorded five kills and Autumn Van Horn had three.   Hannah Blaha led the team in blocks with three.

Ashlyn Fread led the team in assists with 14.

Algona Tournament

The Clear Lake volleyball team made it all the way to the finals in the Algona Tournament on Saturday, Oct. 16, before falling to Lake Mills in the championship game.

“It was the best I’ve seen us compete for a six set stretch all year,” said Coach Heather Johnson.  “Going into our last pool play match, we knew if we beat Algona in two sets we would actually be able to finish second in our pool despite losing our first two matches.”

The team fell to Mason City (10-18) in the first match, 2-1.  The Lions lost the first match, 21-15, won the second match, 21-12 and dropped the final, 15-10.  Xada Johnson was strong with three kills and 10 digs.  Ashlyn Fread had 14 assists.

Lake Mills downed Clear Lake in two matches, 21-12 and 21-9.  Next up was Algona.

“We played so confidently against Algona and won easily,” said Johnson.

Clear Lake topped Algona (11-24), 21-14 and 21-15.  Hannah Blaha recorded five blocks and Jaden Ainley had 10 digs.  Johnson led the team in kills with 3.5.

Next up was a battle for the semi-final game against Gladbrook-Reinbeck (25-13).  The Lions took the first game, 23-21.  GB-R battled back for the second game, 21-18, but Clear Lake prevailed in the match game, 19-17.  

The win moved the team to the championship game where they met Lake Mills (32-4) for a rematch.

Clear Lake was ready for the talented Lake Mills team and posted a 21-19 victory in the first match.  The Lions lost steam in the next two sets and fell, 21-7 and 15-5.

Coach Johnson praised the play of Emily Theiss who really stepped up and played consistently throughout the day.  She also praised Fread and Makella Jacobs who both had strong days at the service line. Ainley and Johnson were recognized for their defensive play and Autumn Van Horn for her offensive play.

“It was so fun to watch and coach the team.  It gave us great momentum going into post season,” said Johnson.  “Everyone from starters to push players were just so engaged and it was such a great way to end our regular season.  Tournaments have always been our -, but this team has been working to change that and I’m so proud of them.”