As the varsity volleyball girls were working their way through a school record 24 match triumphs last season and senior Greta Hahn was setting up 765 points, freshman Delaney Thompson was training to be Hahn’s replacement.
But Thompson injured her knee during a basketball game last January and hasn’t gotten back on a field or court since, at least not for a game.
That left a vacancy in the setter slot this fall, but early this summer, senior Sophie Perkins, who loomed large in the middle last year with 64 kills and 15 blocks, started training as a setter, a role she last had as a ninth and 10th grader.
Perkins assisted 34 points as the Clippers beat host New Ulm Cathedral 3-1 on Thursday and 36 points during the Clippers’ 5-2 win over 2A Providence (Plymouth Catholic) at a Breakdown tournament in New Prague on Saturday, and the Clippers are off to a 2-0 start.
“Setters are the quarterback out there, and they typically have a complete set of skills,” said head coach Dave Nixon. “Sophie’s all-around abilities have helped her to play wherever we’ve needed to play, so that’s helped us change her over to a setter. There’s been a little transition period where we’re going to have some struggles, but she’s a very positive player and has a good relationship with her teammates, and she’s coming along, and she’ll build her consistency. She is doing a great job so far.”
“Going to middle last year was a little different, and now coming back to setter there is a little bit of difference, said Perkins, who did set a little last season and hit outside as well, “but I am working on getting better so I can bet back to a routine.”
Being the fulcrum in the return sequence fits her personality, Perkins said.
“I just like the communication, not like being bossy but kind of in charge. I also like to see people’s successes better than seeing my own.”
Cleveland 3, Providence Academy 2
The Saturday morning alarm clock finally went off for the Clippers when they decisively lost the first game to Providence Academy 25-15 after leading 11-9. Finding open spots on the Clipper half of the court, Providence scored the last five points.
“We’re not always an early morning team,” Nixon said.
The lead of game two swung back and forth until Perkins pushed the ball over the net to deadlock the score at 21. After the Lions hit out of bounds, Savannah Meyer served up a pair of aces, and the game ended 25-21 when a Lion got tangled up in the net.
Game three had a couple of big runs. Up 7-6, the Clippers posted the next six points, including kills by Ava Hahn and Perkins, but the Lions responded with the following eight points before Jocelyn Bartell broke up the run with a kill.
That was the start of a 10-point surge by the Clippers that put them up 23-15. With the Clippers getting Providence out of system, the game ended 25-19 when Hahn slapped a kill, and the Clippers led the match 2-1.
“That’s what we needed to do: get them out of system,” Nixon said. “They definitely won warmups. Their hitting then looked great, but can they do that in a game when they are out of system? There are not too many teams that are really good out of system.”
The Lions broke away in game four at the 9-9 mark. Down the stretch, they touched the net a couple of times, and Freshman Anika Sathoff came up with a kill to pull the Clippers within four, 24-20, but the game ended 25-20 on a Providence kill.
The short set was all Clippers though. With an Anika Sathoff ace serve followed by a Melia Sathoff ace tip, the Clippers led 6-1. Later, Bartell knocked down an ace block, and a Lions hit sailed out of bounds for a 9-3 Clipper advantage.
The Lions got a few points in after that, including a pair of winners, but the game ended 15-8 when Melia Sathoff put up an ace block and Anika Sathoff smashed a match-winning kill.
“We had to be the aggressor and transition from defense to offense,” Nixon said, “and we did it just enough to win today.”
Anika Sathoff and Ava Hahn each had 13 kills, Melia Sathoff had six kills. Perkins had four kills, Bartell had six kills, and Jocelyn Kortuem added one kill.
Hahn set up three points. Meyer served up four aces. Anika Sathoff had three ace serves. Hahn sent over a pair of ace serves. The Clippers missed eight serves, not bad for five sets in the second outing of the season.
Hahn scooped 24 digs. Meyer hoisted 14 digs. Perkins had 11 digs. Kortuem had 10 digs. Anika Sathoff had four digs. Lacey McCabe had one dig. Melia Sathoff had two digs.
Melia Sathoff walled five ace blocks. Kortuem had three ace blocks. Bartell, Ava Hahn and Anika Sathoff each had two ace blocks. Perkins had one ace block.
Cleveland 3, NUC 1
A match against New Ulm Cathedral has been the season opener for the Clippers since 2008 with the venue alternating between schools. The Clippers swept the Greyhounds in Cleveland last year to tie the series 8-8, but two years ago, they fell in New Ulm 3-2.
Back in Cathedral’s gym on Thursday the Clippers won game one 25-14. Bartell’s kill put the Clippers in front 25-13, and the game ended when Cathedral served out of bounds.
The Clippers trailed in most of game two but stalemated the score at 16 after a Hahn kill and a Cathedral hit into the net. Anika Sathoff’s kill put the Clippers in front 21-17, and they never trailed from there, scoring four of the next six points. Hahn slapped down back-to-back winners for the last two points and a 25-19 triumph.
The Greyhounds roared out of the gate in game three to lead 15-4. All but one of their points were from winners.
Hahn went on the attack from there, and the Clippers spurted for 10 points that narrowed their deficit to two, 16-14. Melia Sathoff and Kortuem hit down winners to put the Clippers in front 19-18, but Cathedral went back on the attack to halt the uprising and edge the Clippers 26-24.
“We almost won the set after being down by 11,” Nixon said. “We hoped to bounce back a little more quickly in that third set, but we did bounce back. We just wanted them to compete and control what we could control, and times we did that and at times we didn’t, but we know that Cathedral is going to put up a fight.”
Rebounding right back, the Clippers never trailed in game four though. With her team up 17-12, Hahn went on the warpath with seven kills, including the last three points of the game for a 25-14 Cleveland victory.
“We had our highs and lows in that match,” Nixon said. “
Hahn spiked 21 kills on the night. The Sathoff sisters each had nine kills. Bartell had two kills, and Kortuem had one kill.
Hahn also shoveled 18 digs. Meyer had 16 digs. Perkins had six digs. McCabe had four digs. Kortuem had three digs. Luci Blaschko had two digs. Maya Lassiter and Bartell each had one dig.
Hahn and Bartell each had two ace blocks. Lassiter had one ace block.
Hahn had five ace serves. Anika Sathoff served four aces. Meyer had two ace serves. Perkins safely landed all 20 of her serves with one of them an ace. Melia Sathoff also had one ace serve. Kortuem was nine for nine from the service stripe while Lassiter was eight for eight.
The Clippers were off target with only five serves, a super low number for four games in a season opener.
The Clippers return to action today (Tuesday) when they host non-conference Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton. With a 3-1 win over visiting Loyola, the Bulldogs are 1-0. Last year, the Clippers won in Janesville 3-0.
Above: Demonstrating her all-around skills, Sophie Perkins swings for a hit at New Ulm Cathedral.
