|
|
Clearfield volleyball swept by DuBois
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
By Jon Christoff Sports Writer
HYDE - It's said the first win is always the toughest to get.
Unfortunately for the Clearfield volleyball team, it can attest to that being true.
The Lady Bisons battled visiting DuBois on Tuesday and were within striking distance at the end of the first two sets, but a lackluster third set sealed Clearfield's fate.
Clearfield lost the first two sets 25-21 and 25-20, only to see the Lady Beavers take care of business in the third, 25-8.
"The first two games (we played very well), but that last set ... I don't know what happened," said head coach Bob Peters. "We fell apart. They want to win so bad that I think that's the problem. Once we get that win, maybe we'll start going a little bit better."
The Lady Bisons showed some resiliency in the opening game, after DuBois was within one point of claiming the set.
Kelsey Glace came up with a kill to force a sideout for Clearfield, and followed it up with two of her five service points.
Samantha Broad had a block during Glace's run, but the Lady Beavers got a kill of their own from Kailyn Angelo to give their team the win.
The Lady Bisons finished the first with nine service points, while taking advantage of seven missed serves. Clearfield misfired on five of its own, though.
"We had a lot of missed serves that first game, too, and that hurt us," Peters said. "We'll just keep plugging away and see what happens."
Despite coming up short in the opener, Clearfield was undeterred as the second got under way.
The Lady Bisons got out to an early lead, thanks in part to the serving of Michelle Payonk, who registered three straight points to give Clearfield an early 7-2 advantage.
Broad led all Clearfield players with six service points, while Glace added five. Adrienne Stucke led the Lady Bisons with four kills and two blocks.
After Payonk's run, the Lady Bisons kept the pressure on as DuBois was unable to duplicate its serving touch from the first, where it had seven of its 12 aces in the match.
Clearfield led until the Lady Beavers tied the score at 13, and eventually took their first lead at 16-15.
From there, the Lady Bisons were unable to recover, as a return was wide of its mark on set point.
"We had control and we didn't get it done," said Peters. "It's something that we'll learn with the experience.
"We've got a young team out there, and we make a lot of mental mistakes. You can't teach that. They've got to get it in their heads they're going to do it right."
Neither team was able to get much going offensively in the third, as there wasn't a run of more than a point until DuBois' Carly Wallock toed the end line with her team up 7-6.
Wallock reeled off 11 straight service points with a pair of aces, while teammate Kirsten Wilcox put her team one point away from the win with five straight of her own.
The Lady Beavers didn't have long to wait, as a Clearfield return was long on the ensuing serve.
The Lady Bisons (0-7) are back in action Thursday at Curwensville.
"I don't know what (the score was) the last game," Peters said. "We didn't play well. But the first two games, we played well enough to win but we didn't win. We've got to get a win in somehow.
"We go to Curwensville on Thursday. It's a big rivalry, so that should get them psyched up in itself."
|  |
|
|
|
