Tough week for the Clear Lake volleyball team

(Above) Clear Lake’s Maranda Harrison sends a hit between two Webster City defenders.  Harrison provided 16 kills for the Lions during Tuesday night’s match.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

The Clear Lake volleyball team tangled with the Webster City Lynx at home last week, then participated in a triangular with Mason City and Charles City.  The Lions went 0-3 during the week, dropping their record to 2-8 overall.

Webster City 3, CL 2

Webster City captured the deciding fifth game by a score of 17-15 to capture their match with Clear Lake Tuesday, Sept. 4.

The Lynx notched the North Central Conference victory by opening up with a 25-15 first game, then withstanding a charge by the Lions.  Clear Lake captured games two and three by scores of 25-22 and 25-20.  However momentum shifted in the fourth game and the visitor won, 25-17, to set up the fifth and final game.

“The girls played absolutely awesome Tuesday against Webster City,” said Coach Richie Ellis.  “They played with so much heart and never gave up. This is a huge step in the right direction for this team. We keep playing like this and the wins will come.”

Maranda Harrison provided a good share of the Lions’ points by putting away 16 kills in the match.  Teammate Sara Faber had 10.  The Lion attack also included Mikayla VanderPloeg with eight kills, and Macy Mixdorf, Delaney Eden and Allexa Whitehouse with six apiece.

The offense was set up by Julia Merfeld, who had 29 assists, and Kennedy Kallenbach with 14.

At the service line, Mixdorf recorded four aces and Jenna Nelson finished with three.

Charles City Triangular

Perennial volleyball power Charles City dominated their annual triangular played with Clear Lake and Mason City Thursday, Sept. 6.

Clear Lake played a competitive match with the Class 4A Comets, but was sent home with a 28-26, 25-19 loss.

“We came out pretty strong, but ended up losing a tough set one, 28-26. We are really coming together as a team and are starting to play some good volleyball.  We still need some work getting out of jams and letting teams make runs on us,” said Coach Richie Ellis.

Macy Mixdorf was effective at the net, putting down 10 kills.  Maranda Harrison had three kills, while Delaney Eden and Sara Faber each had two.  Julia Merfeld provided 17 assists.

Against Mason City, the Lions won the first game of the match by a score of 27-25, but dropped games two and three by scores of 25-20 and 15-9.

“Once again we came out strong, winning the first set 27-25, but ended up dropping the last two after having leads in both sets,” said Coach Ellis.  “We real

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ly need to figure out how to put teams away when we have a lead. Its just a confidence issue right now. We are a good team and the more and more the girls believe that the better we will get. I can’t say enough at how proud I am of all of them. They are not giving up and fighting for every point.”

At the net, Eden had a team-high seven kills.  Mikayla VanderPloeg, Mixdorf and Faber each had five kills and Harrison finished with four.  Merfeld was credited with 21 assists in the match.

The Comets also defeated Mason City by a 2-0 score.

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