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Clearfield volleyball downed by Indian Valley in three sets
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
By Jon Christoff Sports Writer
HYDE - Whenever teams that are evenly matched meet in any sport, the one that makes the fewest mistakes is usually the team that comes out on top.
The Clearfield volleyball team erred on 13 serves, including seven in the first set, in Monday's match with visiting Indian Valley, and the Lady Warriors made the home team pay.
Indian Valley won the first set and the momentum that goes with it, and sent the Lady Bisons to their 12th straight defeat in three sets.
The Lady Warriors won by scores of 25-18, 25-16 and 25-22.
"I've been preaching to the girls all year on how fundamentals will either make or break a game," said Clearfield head coach Sarah Fye.
"Our serving has been like a roller coaster - we'll succeed one game and then we'll go in the dips the next game. We hurt ourselves in the first and second games with our serving."
In each of the first two sets, Clearfield played even with Indian Valley until a costly mistake came back to bite it.
The Lady Warriors took advantage of the seven missed errors in the first game, one of which allowed the visitors to reel off a five-point service run to put the game away.
Indian Valley's Katie Leister had nine service points in the opening game, including the deciding run, as Clearfield didn't have an answer after being tied at 11.
The second game was nearly identical with the exception being the beneficiary of the Lady Bisons' miscue.
With the match tied at 14, the Lady Warriors' Sammie Chestnut registered a kill off a ball that Clearfield thought it had a point on.
Chestnut serve four straight points and Indian Valley had a 2-0 lead shortly thereafter.
"We've been working and working very hard on communication and moving with the ball," Fye said. "We've been talking about placements on the floor and where our girls should be when the ball is on the opposing side.
"We did well at that and thought we had a kill or a point, but you have to give credit to Indian Valley (for not quitting on the play). They worked hard and they were all over the floor digging."
The Lady Bisons could have easily called it a night after falling behind two games, and for the better part of the third set it looked like that may have been the case.
Indian Valley forged ahead 22-15, but Clearfield showed its resiliency and battled back to within two points at the end.
The Lady Warriors struggled with their serving to aid in the Lady Bisons' rally, as they missed eight serves to give life to the Clearfield half of the court.
Lady Bisons middle hitter Dakota Farmery blocked a Chesnut kill attempt to put the score at 24-22, but the Lady Warriors lucked out when an over-the-head bump landed directly on the end line for the win.
"There are a lot of girls on this team that have heart and dedication and they want to win," said Fye. "We just need to learn how to win.
"We have been preaching to them that it's easy to lose, but it's hard to win. We are working hard to find a way to win, and in the third set I give credit to every single girl on the floor. They tried very hard."
Farmery led the Clearfield offense with eight service points, five of which were aces.
The Lady Bisons (1-15) entertain Tyrone, which they defeated earlier in the season, and will hold a breast cancer fundraiser this evening.
The Lady Warriors won the junior varsity match as well, two games to one.
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