Lady Patriots Pull Off Win Against the Rivals to the East
By: Natalie Brabec, a senior at Leigh High School
After multiple meetings last year, two rival teams—the Patriots and the Howells-Dodge Jaguars—were ready to take each other on head-to-head. The Patriots headed east on Tuesday, August 31, to battle the Jags on their home court in the first full 3-5 set game of the season. Both teams worked hard to win, but after a slow start, the Patriots eventually wore down the Jags for the W.
To start the night off right, the JV team pulled through in both sets to beat the Jaguars. The Patriots were trailing the whole set then right at the end game up and beat them.
Then came the varsity. The first set was rough, with the Patriots only scoring 14 points. But they rallied together, pulled through, and won the next three straight sets!
Korbee Went, a junior at Leigh, said, “This was such a fun match against Howells-Dodge. We came out a little slower in the first set, and then went back out and took the next three sets away from them on their home court. This was a big win for us and I can't wait to see what the rest of the season brings.”
Sophomore Chloe Hanel was a dominant force at the net, as well as in the back row. She led the Patriots with 18 kills and 18 digs. Senior Kennedy Settje was close behind with 11 kills and 18 digs. Makenna Held paced the office with 30 set assists.
Head Coach, Becky Schneider said, “Going into the match against Howells-Dodge, we knew it would be a battle! They are much improved across the board from last season, and they challenged us, which is what we want because that is what makes us better!
That first set there were definitely a lot of nerves on our side. We were caught out of position and off-guard by a lot of what they gave us, and we had way too many unforced errors.
But after the first set, we were able to settle in and just play! Our girls showed a tremendous amount of grit, tenacity, and perseverance! They came together and played with a purpose and it paid off! Plus, it was an awesome atmosphere! It was a packed gym, loud and full of energy, which is always fun!”
This win puts the Patriots’ record at 3-0 so far this season!
Stats:
Clarkson-Leigh v. Howells-Dodge
Set 1 Set 2 Set 3 Set 4 Final
Clarkson-Leigh 14 25 25 25 3
Howells-Dodge 25 21 23 18 1
(kills, aces, blocks, digs, assists)
Izzy Hollatz: (0,1, 0, 5, 0), Makenna Held: (1, 1, 0, 5, 30), Chloe Hanel: (18, 1, 7, 22, 0), Brynn Settje: (0, 0, 0, 14, 0), Tanyn Larson: (3, 0, 6, 1, 0), Gracie Eisenmnan: (2, 4, 18, 0), Kennedy Settje: (11, 0, 1, 18, 2), Korbee Went: (1, 0, 5, 0, 0)