CL volleyball team goes 4-2 at Clarion tourney

The Clear Lake volleyball team opened its season at a tournament held in Clarion on Saturday. The Lions were handed two quick losses, but quickly turned things around and rattled off four straight wins.

“It was a very exciting day for our girls.  Starting off the day against two very good teams was tough, but helped to set the tone for our level of play for the remainder of the day,” said Head Coach Keith Sears.  “I was pleasantly surprised by the composure of the girls.  There were a couple delays throughout the day that would make many teams loose their drive, but our girls came out of the delay fired up and ready to go.  Their mental/physical toughness was constantly tested in each game, and they passed with flying colors. Emily Snelling helped to add some power to our attack; Marne Euken served lights out the entire day, and Chloe Mueller, a sophomore, stepped in on defense when we needed a spark.”

Harris-Lake Park and host Clarion-Goldfield-Dows got the best of the Lions in the early going.  H-LP squeezed by in the first game, 23-21, then won the second by a score of 21-12.  The Cowgirls provided stiff competition, winning 21-13 and 21-9.

But then the Lions found their groove.

They were winners over Riceville (21-15, 22-20) and Eagle Grove (21-16, 21-15).  North Butler pushed the Lions to three games, but in the end Clear Lake got the hard-fought win, 21-19, 14-21, 18-16.

In the Riceville match, Carson Frahm was 12/12 at the service line with three aces and Euken went 7/7.  Euken had an outstanding day serving, going perfect in every match.  Snelling was dominant at the net with eight kills.

Against Eagle Grove, Euken was 11/11 at the service line with two aces.  Jessica Faber was 9/9 serving and led the team with four kills.

In the North Butler match, Euken remained perfect at the service line, going 13/13 with an ace.  Faber had nine kills, followed by sophomore Maddie Davis with seven and Snelling with five.

The final match was against CAL and the Lions were in control, 21-19, 21-15.  In that match Euken was 9/9 at the service line with two aces and Jenna Wilkinson was 6/6 with one ace.  Jessica Faber had a team-high four kills.

For the day, Carson Frahm set up the offense well with 49 assists.  Snelling had Faber had 25 and 24 kills respectively.

On defense, Chloe Mueller recorded 22 digs.

As a team, the Lions put in 193 of 221 serves for 87 percent.  The team had 25 aces.

Clear Lake fans will have their first opportunity to watch the Lions play on Thursday.  North Central Conference power Iowa Falls-Alden will come to town.  The freshman and junior varsity teams will play at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity at 7:30 p.m.