CL girls give rated Humboldt a contest

(Above) Clear Lake’s Kayla Ritter gets high above the net in Thursday night’s tilt against Humboldt.  The Wildcats won the North Central Conference showdown, 3-1.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

The Clear Lake Lions pushed Humboldt to four games, but dropped a North Central Conference tilt 3-1 on Thursday, Sept. 21.

“We came out a little flat in set one, but rebounded very well in set two for the win,” said Coach Richie Ellis.

Humboldt, rated 14th in the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union rankings for Class 3A, opened with a 25-15 victory, but the Lions snatched game two by a 25-23 score.

“It felt like the girls made that mental shift like I have been talking about all season. They fought through some tough points and played a rated Humboldt team down to the wire. They proved they can play with anyone when they believe they can.”

The Wildcats regrouped to win the third set, 25-14.  The two teams then fought to the end in a wild game four which Humboldt won, 27-25.

Sara Faber had a great night for the Lions.  The sophomore put down 12 kills to energize her team.

“Humboldt didn’t seem to have an answer for her,” said Coach Ellis.

Maranda Harrison also was hitting the ball effectively.  Har

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rison finished the night with eight kills and 10 digs.  She was also good on 14 of 15 serves.

“Our front row played a lot better and got a lot of touches at the net which allowed our back row to keep the ball in play. All in all I was very pleased with our efforts and we are moving in the right direction,” said Ellis.

Mikayla Vanderploeg had seven kills for the Lions and Kayla Ritter finished with five.  Ritter was also 9/9 at the service line.

Jenna Wilkinson and Julia Merfeld were both perfect serving.  Wilkinson was 18/18 with two aces; Merfeld was 12/12 with one ace.  Merfeld also led the team with 14 digs.  Chloe Mueller had 12 and was 7/7 serving.  Macy Mixdorf went 8/9 at the service line.

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