Lions fall to Osage in Regional semi-final

Osage, a power in North Iowa volleyball, defeated Clear Lake 3-0, in the Regional semi-final played Tuesday, Oct. 24.

“There is definitely a reason they are a top 10 team,” said Lions Coach Richie Ellis.  “They are good.”

The Lions came into the contest ready to post an upset.  They came onto the floor fired up and played point for point with the Green Devils early on.

“It was a case of being outmatched,” explained Ellis.  “Osage has a lot of different weapons they can go to at any time.  I felt our girls handled themselves great and stayed up all night long.  It was nice to see this as that has been an issue with our team all season.”

The Green Devils won by scores of 25-14, 25-15, 25-13.

The Lions recorded 17 kills in the match, led by Maranda Harrison’s seven.  Sara Faber, Macy Mixdorf and Mikayla Vanderploeg had three apiece, while Kayla Ritter put down one kill.

Julia Merfeld set up the Lion offense with 14 assists.  Mixdorf was the leader in digs with seven.  Chloe Mueller had five digs.

Serving was a strength for the Lions, as they put in 98 percent of their serves.  Mueller was 11/11, followed by Ritter (9/9), Harrison (7/7), Merfeld (6/6) and Vanderploeg (5/5).

“I know our record (6-27) doesn’t show it, but we developed into a pretty decent team over the course of the season. I can’t say enough how proud of these girls I am,” added Coach Ellis.

The Lions say good-bye to three seniors.  Mueller, Ritter and Jenna Wilkinson were competing for the Clear Lake volleyball team for the final time in their high school careers.