Above: Taylin Gosch and Emma Sweere decide who will prop up the ball while Grayce Kortuem looks on.
With two weeks and two days since the Clipper volleyball girls’ last competition, it’s easy to understand why they had a lackluster start when they took on visiting USC in the second round of the section playoffs on Thursday.
Down 2-1 in game one, the eighth-seeded Rebels—who beat nine seed Martin County West in the first round of the sections—pulled in front on a six-point spurt. The run included a trio of ace serves and finally ended when Taylin Gosch pushed the ball backward to waiting Emily Kern. Capitalizing on the pass, Kern hit the first of 10 kills she would have for the night.
“Over two weeks with no matches…that’s hard on a team,” said Grayce Kortuem, who totaled four kills in the outing. “We do better when we’re on a roll with matches."
With kills by Kortuem and Ava Hahn, the subsection top-seeded Clippers worked their way back and knotted the game at 13 after a Savannah Meyer service ace.
“We got in the groove of things," Kortuem said. “We had a time out and talked things over about what we needed to do."
Kortuem said it came down to signaling on the floor.
“We needed to talk more. There was no communication with our back row. Our passes were pretty far off the net, but we got it back and got the dub.”
Following up, Hahn skewed a hit down the left-side line to give the Clippers a lead they would never relinquish.
After the Clippers went ahead 22-19, Harley Connor, Hahn and Kortuem each had kill for a 25-19 victory.
With game two tied at three, the Clippers scored on a Kortuem attack and never looked back. With a couple of kills by both Laci Hollerich and Kern and a Gosch ace serve thrown into the mix, they were suddenly up 12-4.
The second game ended 25-15 when the Rebels let a Kern serve glide to the floor.
The Clippers pulled up front 12-3 in game three and cruised to the easy triumph. With a Maddy Steen kill the final point, the Clippers won 25-16 for the sweep.
It was the last game in the new Cleveland gym for the six seniors.
“It’s sad, but the way we ended was good, so that made up for it,” said Kern.
Ava Hahn angled across nine kills. Hollerich swatted six kills. Steen and Connor each belted two kills. Gosch relayed 28 set assists. Kern fenced up three ace blocks.
Emma Sweere pulled up 15 digs. Kern, Meyer and Greta Hahn each carted seven digs. Connor hoisted six digs. Gosch and Ava Hahn scooped five digs. Allison Jindra, Jordyn Klingel and Kortuem each scraped one dig.
Ava Hahn landed 15 of 16 serve attempts. USC couldn’t handle four of them. Sweere was successful in all seven of her serves. Klingel dropped in both of her serve attempts.
It was the 100th win for head coach Bree Meyer.
The Clippers take on fourth-ranked Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton at 6:00 pm in St. James on Monday. The Bulldogs beat Madelia to earn the right to play the Clippers.
The winner of Cleveland vs JWP plays against either number-three Springfield or number-two Cedar Mountain at Mankato East on Thursday in the subsection championship.
Allison Jindra gets on the floor for a dig.
Maddy Steen goes on the attack.
Jordyn Klingel tosses the ball during a serve.
Ava Han follows through a hit.
Emily Kern watches her hit clear the mesh.
Laci Hollerich on the hit.
Savannah Meyer readies to bump up a USC serve.
Grayce Kortuem completes a block.
Jackson Meyer presented his mom Bree with a sign that commemorated her 100 varsity wins.
It was the last game on the Cleveland court this season for the Clippers. They include, front row, L-R: Savannah Meyer, Taylin Gosch, Ava Hahn, Emma Sweere, Greta Hahn and coach Bree Meyer. Back row: Maddy Steen, Sophie Perkins, Lexi Waldron, Grayce Kortuem, Harley Connor, Laci Hollerich, Jordyn Klingel, Allison Jindra and Emily Kern.
It was “white lies” night in the student section, although the sayings on their shirts were typically something about themselves that in reality was the polar opposite.