Lions face tough competition at Algona Tournament

The Clear Lake volleyball team tuned up for Regional play this week with tough competition at an Algona Tournament Saturday.  The Lions went 4-2.

“I was pleased with the way the team responded this weekend after the loss at Iowa Falls last Thursday,” said Coach Jill Smith.  “We ended the regular season on a positive and can hopefully take some of that momentum into playoff this week.  Osage will be a tough match-up, but I believe the team is prepared to battle.”

The Lions will meet Osage in the Class 3A Region 6 opening round tonight (Wednesday, Oct. 19) in Osage.  The host Green Devils are rated 14th in the latest Class 3A poll released by the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Union.  West Delaware, the second ranked team in 3A, will also play in the Region 6 bracket.  The winner of the Clear Lake vs. Osage match will meet the winner of the New Hampton vs. Crestwood match at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, in Osage.

Algona Tournament

At Algona, the Lions fell to the host Bulldogs, Sheldon, and  two of North Iowa’s top programs and rated teams, Forest City and Lake Mills.  The score in each loss was 0-2.

They posted 2-1 wins against Spencer and Carroll.  Scores in the Spencer match were 21-17, 21-23, 15-12.  Emily Snelling had a team-high 10 kills.  Jessica Faber and Maddie Davis had six and five respectively.  Carson Frahm set up the offense with 19 assists.    The Lions were impressive at the service line, putting in 93 percent of their serve attempts.  Faber led the way, going 14/14.  Chloe Mueller made good on 10 of 11 attempts.  Kiersten Baalson went 8/9 and Kayla Ritter went 9/10.  Snelling was perfect at 8/8.

Against Carroll the Lions dropped the opening game 21-19, but won games two and three by scores of 21-16 and 16-14.  Snelling was again strong at the net, putting down 11 kills.  Frahm finished with 21 assists.  Snelling and Mueller each recorded seven digs. Serving was again strong, with Baalson going 12/12 and Snelling 6/6.  Frahm made 11 of 12 serve attempts and Mueller was 7/8.  Ritter put in five of six serves.

Algona topped the Lions 21-14 and 21-12.  Forest City was a 21-15, 21-15 winner and Lake Mills cruised 21-13, 21-10.  Sheldon won, 21-16, 21-16.