Patriot Volleyball Makes State for the First Time in Patriot History!
The Patriots have the serve. One point to go and the Lourdes play it back, but the Patriots’ defense gets the ball up. The Lourdes are out of system, and there the ball goes --flying into the net. Point to the Patriots! Patriots win the match!
The Patriot volleyball team has made state! It’s the first time in Patriot history, and the girls are ready to play!
Last Monday marked the start of sub-districts--the time of the year where the Clarkson/Leigh Patriots play to make it to state.
Their first game was against the Pender Pendragons. This game proved to be an easy win for the Patriots.
Head coach Becky Schneider said, “Going into sub-districts, we knew we had a great shot at winning both games! We had Pender first which was kind of nice because we had just beat them the week before.”
They won in three with scores of 25-16, 25-15, and 25-8.
Guardian Angels Central Catholic was up next. The Patriots once again won pretty easily in 3. The scores were 25-16, 29-27, and 25-15.
“We really just prepared for GACC this past week. We watched a lot of film and talked about different strategies on what might work! The girls were relaxed and played really well! It was exciting to see them reach another team goal!” Schneider added.
Junior Kaegan Held had an outstanding night bringing home 50 assists while sophomore Ashlynn Novotny had 22 kills for the night.
With the Patriots heading into districts, which was also a first for the Patriots, they practiced harder than ever.
Middle hitter, senior Sydney Folken said, “We played very well. We are continuing to break Patriot records, and it feels amazing!”
“Going into districts, we knew it would be tough, but again, felt like we had a great shot at winning! We watched a lot more film on Lourdes and king of got mixed feelings on them so we didn’t really know what to expect, but we knew it’d be challenging,” head coach Becky Schneider said.
Thursday, the Patriots headed to Wahoo to play Lourdes Central Catholic. The first set was a bit rough for the Patriots losing 15-25.
With getting all of their nerves out of the way in the first set, they came back the second set to win 25-22.
Schneider added, “That first set, I’m not sure if it was nerves or what, but we were not playing relaxed. We were very tense and it was gut-check time losing 15-25.”
The Patriots didn’t stop there. They battled the third and fourth set and won. The scores were 25-15 and 25-20.
“We now just have to go into state and play our game, have fun, and be confident in ourselves,” Folken added. “I am so proud of the team we have become, and I hate to see the season coming to a close.”
Becky Schneider said, “After settling in midway through the second set, we were finally able to take care of the ball and control the game a little bit better. In the end, it was amazing to see the girls come together being down one set to zero, and persevere! Making it to state is such a huge accomplishment and these girls definitely deserve it!”
Lincoln better watch out because the Patriots are ready to play!
Stats:
Clarkson/Leigh vs. Pender
Set 1 Set 2 Set 3
Clarkson/Leigh 25 25 25
Pender 16 15 8
Individual Stats:
(kills-hit attempts, blocks, digs, assists, ace serves)
Kayden Schumacher––2-5, 0, 1, 0, 0; Kaegan Held––2-2, 0 , 5, 21, 3;
Beth Wiese––1-15, 0, 1, 0, 0; Halee Steffensmeier––0-0, 0, 14, 0, 2;
Paige Moore––4-13, 1, 3, 0, 0; Cassidy Hoffman––1-1, 0, 0, 0, 0; Holly Kuhr––0-0, 0, 10, 0, 0;
Brittney Urbanek––0-0, 0, 8, 0, 0; Kim Stodola––0-0, 0, 1, 0, 0; Sara McEvoy––1-8, 0, 8, 2, 2;
Sydney Folken––6-13, 2, 0, 0, 0; Ashlynn Novotny––9-17, 2, 0, 0, 0;
Clarkson/Leigh vs. GACC
Set 1 Set 2 Set 3
Clarkson/Leigh 25 29 25
GACC 16 27 15
Individual Stats:
(kills-hit attempts, blocks, digs, assists, ace serves)
Kayden Schumacher––0-1, 0, 0, 0, 0; Kaegan Held––4-8, 0, 7, 29, 1;
Halee Steffensmeier––0-0, 0, 6, 0, 0; Cassidy Hoffman––0-2, 1, 0, 0, 0;
Paige Moore––5-15, 1, 1, 0, 0; Holly Kuhr––0-0, 0, 4, 0, 0; Beth Wiese––1-11, 0, 5, 0, 4;
Brittney Urbanek––0-1, 0, 6, 0, 0; Kim Stodola––0-1, 1, 0, 0, 0; Sara McEvoy––3-6, 2, 8, 0, 2;
Sydney Folken––9-18, 3, 0, 0, 0; Ashlynn Novotny––13-22, 2, 1, 0, 0;
Clarkson/Leigh vs. Lourdes Central Catholic
Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4
Clarkson/Leigh 15 25 25 25
Lourdes Central Catholic 25 22 15 20