Volleyball team takes third at season-opening C-G tourney

by Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake volleyball team got off the season off to a good start, posting a 4-2 record at a tournament held in Clarion Saturday.  The Lions placed third in the tourney with wins over Harris-Lake Park, South Hamilton, Belmond-Klemme and Eagle Grove. They dropped matches against host C-G-D and North Butler.

“Overall, it was a great day of volleyball. There were a couple setbacks, but the girls responded well finishing the day with two strong wins,” said Coach Ritchie Ellis.  “We open up conference play this Thursday at home against Humboldt, who is a rated team in 3A. This will be a great measuring stick for where we are right now.”

Against H-LP, the Lions served with 97.5 efficiency, led by Chelsey Holck, who was 12/12 with an ace.  Julia Merfeld was 8/8 at the service line and Sara Faber went 4/4 with two aces.  Eden Delaney had a team-high seven kills.  Merfeld had 16 assists and four digs. The Lions prevailed, 21-8, 21-16.

The Lions dropped the first set against South Hamilton 17-21, but came back to win the next two, 21-17, 15-11.  Delaney went 9/9 serving with two aces, had a block, and recorded 11 kills for the team.  Faber had seven kills, followed by Holck and Kaitlyn Vanderploeg each with six.

The Lions handled Eagle Grove, 21-3 and 21-8 for their third win of the day.  It was a dominating performance led by Eden with 8/8 serving and four aces. Holck was 6/6 serving with two aces and Merfeld was 14/15 with eight aces.  Merfeld also had nine assists.  Sophie Ollenburg had a team-high six digs.

Clear Lake played a competitive game with C-G-D, but the Cowgirls topped the Lions by scores of 21-12 and 21-18.  Eden led the way with five kills, followed by Faber and Allexa Whitehouse with three apiece.  Vanderploeg and Holck each had two.  Holck was 7/7 serving with an ace.  Faber and Kennedy Kollenbach each went 6/6.  Merfeld finished with nine assists and Ollenburg made eight digs.

It was also a close match with North Butler.  The Bearcats pulled out a win with scores of 21-18 and 21-11.  At the net, Whitehouse had five kills to lead the Lions.  Holck and Eden both put down four.  Merfeld was credited with 13 assists and three digs.  Ollenburg had a team-high six digs.  The team struggled a but at the service line, finishing with 87 percent efficiency.  Merfeld had a good outing, gaining 11/11 with an ace.