The Clarkson/Leigh Patriots are 2-3 in their last five matches, topping Tekamah-Herman 2-0 and losing 2-0 to North Bend Central at North Bend Thursday night, before downing Twin River 2-1 and losing 2-1 to Wisner-Pilger on Saturday in Wisner. All four matches were East Husker Conference Tournament matches. The Patriots lost 3-1 at Oakland-Craig Tuesday night.
Clarkson/Leigh took set one from Tekamah-Herman 25-13, and won set two 25-21.
Shelby Paprocki had 7 kills while Kaegan Held registered 17 set assists.
The Patriots dropped the first set to North Bend Central 25-17 and lost the second set 25-19.
Paprocki totaled 14 digs while Paprocki notched 7.
The Gators earned a 25-20 set one win and a 25-22 set three win while Clarkson/Leigh took set two from Wisner-Pilger 25-20.
Paprocki recorded 15 kills and 20 digs while Sydney Folken and Hannah Kasik added 7 kills each. Halee Steffensmeier posted 13 digs while Held contributed 9 digs and 28 set assists.
The Patriots won the first set over the Titans 26-24 before Twin River won set two by the same score. Clarkson/Leigh earned a 25-14 win in set three.
Paprocki and Kasik managed 11 kills apiece while Beth Wiese chipped in 7 kills and 9 digs. Steffensmeier added 21 digs while Sara McEvoy notched 20. Paprocki totaled 17, and Held registered 16 digs and 31 set assists. Cully Cerv posted 7 digs.
The Patriots took the first set from the Knights 25-17, but Oakland-Craig bounced back to win the next three 25-14, 25-21, and 25-23.
Paprocki had 15 kills and 21 digs while Kasik totaled 13 kills and 7 digs. Steffensmeier contributed 19 digs with Held totaling 16 digs and 33 set assists. McEvoy added 11 digs.
Clarkson/Leigh played very respectable Volleyball in the EHC Tournament. I'm not sure what happened against the Knights.
The Patriots (14-14) host Mead (10-14) Thursday night.
The Raiders lost 2-0 to Elmwood-Murdock and Malcolm at the Elmwood-Murdock Invitational on Tuesday.
Like Clarkson/Leigh, Mead has played a lot of teams in classes above them.
The Raiders have lost four in a row while the Patriots are just 3-5 in their last eight matches.
It's definitely not the time of year to be struggling, but in some ways, that's what both of these teams are doing right now.
Something has to give Thursday night. One of these teams is going to snap out of their mini funk, and perhaps get on the right track.
One loss is nothing for Clarkson/Leigh to get worked up about, but the Patriots have to play with a purpose and sense of urgency Thursday night.
The Patriots can't come out and lay an egg and be flat.
Clarkson/Leigh has to get off to the same type of start they got off to against Oakland-Craig, the Patriots just need to finish this time around.
Clarkson/Leigh is definitely capable of beating Mead, but I look for Thursday night's match to be close and tightly contested.
I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the match went 5 sets.
I like the Patriots' chances with the match being at home, but Clarkson/Leigh has to play a complete match and perform much better than they did against the Knights.
Not taking anything away from Oakland-Craig, but the Patriots have to be better than they were against the Knights.
Clarkson/Leigh can't continue to perform the way they did against Oakland-Craig. Two of the three set losses for the Patriots were close, and Oakland-Craig is a C-2 team, but Clarkson/Leigh still has to be better.
Perhaps the Patriots can get back on track Thursday night with a win over Mead.
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