Tough week for the Clear Lake volleyball team

by Michelle Watson

It was a tough week for the Clear Lake volleyball team, being shut-out by Humboldt and Forest City.  The two losses moved the Lion’s record to 1-3 in the North Central Conference standings and 6-11 overall.

Humboldt 3, CL 0

The Lions struggled against a solid Humboldt team, who has an overall record of 24-0, when they met on Tuesday, Sept. 29.  The Wildcats won with scores of 25-10, 25-11 and 25-7.

“We really needed to eliminate offensive errors to compete,” said Coach Heather Johnson.  “While we were playing with several girls in different positions tonight, we had a hard time adjusting and just competing.”

One highlight for the team was their blocking.  The team recorded 15 total blocks.  Kaitlyn VanderPloeg led the way with four blocks, while Delaney Eden had three and Ali Maulsby, Autumn VanHorn and Chelsey Holck all had two apiece.

Coach Johnson praised the play of Sophia Ollenburg.

“Sophia really stepped up defensively and in serve receive.  She played a great game,” said Johnson.

Eden led the team in kills with four, while VanderPloeg recorded two kills.

Maulsby led the team in assists and in digs.  She had eight assists and recorded seven digs.  Holck had five digs and Ashlyn Fread had four digs.

The Lions’ serving was on point, with six players serving at 100 percent.  Ollenburg was 6/6, while Holck, Fread and Kaley Meyer were all 4/4. VanderPloeg was 3/3 and Makella Jacobs was 2/2.  Maulsby, who was 5/6, recorded the team’s lone ace.

Forest City 3, CL 0

According to Coach Johnson, Clear Lake is very close to putting it all together to really compete.  Unfortunately, the pieces didn’t quite fall into place when they traveled to Forest City (14-7) on Thursday, Oct. 1.  The Indians swept the match with scores of 25-21, 26-16 and 25-14.

“Offensively, our hitters stepped up and did a much better job than Tuesday night.  We had too many ball handling and untimely service errors to take a set,” said Johnson.

Leading the way at the net was Xada Johnson, who recorded eight kills and three blocks.  She was also solid on defense, leading the team with 11 digs.

Holck also had a strong night, with seven kills, one block and eight digs.  She was also 17/17 at the service line and had one ace serve.  Other team leaders included VanderPloeg with seven kills and four blocks; and Eden with five kills, three blocks and two digs.

Ollenburg was strong on de

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fense with 10 digs.  Fread and Maulsby led the team in assists with 11 and nine respectively.

On Saturday, Oct. 10, the team will compete in the Mason City tournament.  The Lions will face Central Springs (12-6) at 9 a.m.  At 11 a.m. to they will play Osage (19-2).  They will have a rematch with Humboldt at 1 p.m., followed by Mason City (2-13) at 2 p.m.  They wrap up the tournament against Waverly-Shell Rock (25-7) at 3 p.m.   

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