C-G-D Tournament provides learning experience for CL volleyball team

by Marianne Gasaway

A 2-3 finish at the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows tournament gave new Head Coach Heather Johnson a good look at the strengths of her team, as well as areas to focus on.

“While I am disappointed we couldn’t grab a couple more wins this weekend, we saw some positive things and some areas where we need to improve,” said Johnson. “ The highlights for us were our serve reception.  We’ve spent a lot of time in practice and I was happy to see that translate on to the court. We struggled at times with our serving, tip coverage, and putting the ball away when we needed to- all things we can work to get better at!”

Lion losses came at the hands of experienced squads, including C-G-D which has returning starters from their state-qualifying team last year.  The Cowgirls won, 21-8, 21-8.  The Lions pushed Estherville- Lincoln Central and North Butler to three sets, but fell short.  ELC prevailed, 21-18, 17-21, 15-13, while North Butler was victorious by scores of 22-20, 14-21, 15-5.

The Lions shut out Eagle Grove (21-10, 22-20) and South Hamilton (21-9, 22-20).

Offensively, seniors Chelsey Holck and Kaitlyn Vander Ploeg led the weekend with 18 and 17 kills a piece.

Ashlyn Fread and Ali Maulsby combined for a total of 56 assists in the Lions’ five matches.

Freshman Xada Johnson led the day with 16 aces, averaging over three per match.  Serving strong for the day at over 90 percent was Jaden Ainley. Ainley also recorded 30 digs for the team, as well.

This week the Lions will play at Fort Dodge St. Edmond on Thursday, Sept. 3.  The Gaels opened their season with a 3-0 win over Greene County.