Clarkson/Leigh defeated Howells-Dodge 25-17, 30-28, 25-17.
Chloe Hanel had 11 kills for Clarkson/Leigh. Makenna Held recorded 28 set assists and 12 digs. Also notching double digit digs were Alissa Kasik with 19, Kayden Schumacher with 16 and Kennedy Settje with 11. Schumacher and Settje each had 8 kills.
LHNE had lost only one game and just six sets all season heading into the game with the Patriots.
Clarkson/Leigh stunned the Eagles early, by coming out and winning the first set 25-23.
LHNE responded with a vengeance in set two, winning 25-13.
The Patriots battled back to claim set three 25-22.
The Eagles again ran away with set four, 25-14, sending the game to a fifth and deciding set.
The teams fought back and forth early in the set when LHNE started to create a little separating.
Clarkson/Leigh came back and were able to fend off multiple match point attempts by the Eagles, before LHNE was able to eventually win 17-15, taking the match 3-2.
Hanel had 17 kills and 8 digs for the Patriots, going along with 15 kills from Cassidy Hoffman. Schumacher added a double-double with 13 kills and 29 digs, while Settje had 7 kills and 23 digs. Held handed out 48 set assists and also had 10 digs. Kasik registered 28 digs while Bailey Lemburg posted 15.
The Eagles won Saturday's match 25-16, 25-23, 25-18.
Chloe Hanel had 12 kills for the Patriots, Schumacher had 9 kills and 9 digs, Hoffman had 8 kills with Kennedy Settje recording 16 digs and Makenna Held handing out 28 set assists. Kasik added 14 digs.
Clarkson/Leigh ends its season at 22-9 overall, and as the fourth place team in Class C2.
The Patriots picked up two big wins over Howells-Dodge, two big wins over Pender, three big wins over BRLD, and other big wins over High Plains, Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family, Hartington Cedar Catholic, Mead, Fremont Bergan, Wisner-Pilger, and Oakland-Craig.
It was truly a season to remember for the Patriots, according to Head Coach Becky Schneider. Oh, we are extremely proud of them!! It was so awesome to see them put the pieces together that we had laid out for them all season!! They played out of their minds and left everything on the court!! These girls have worked so hard and they deserve everything they have accomplished!!
A big reason for that was this year's Senior Class consisting of Hoffman, Schumacher, Gracelyn Baumert, Kasik, and Lemburg.
Coach Schneider talks about what she will miss the most from these Seniors. "Everything! I cannot say enough great things about our seniors! They are absolutely incredible and have been such a huge part of our success! They have grown so much these past four years and have been outstanding leaders especially to the underclassmen! They have shown them what it takes to be successful and that nothing comes easy! Everything these girls accomplished was because of hard work and dedication made not only during the season but in the off-season as well! They are a group that wanted to leave their mark and they have definitely accomplished that!! The relationships we have built and the success they've had these past years are definitely unforgettable! Saying goodbye to them is the most difficult part of the job and all five of them will definitely be missed!"
Key returners for next year include Hanel, Held, Settje, Kasik, Korbee Went, and Sammy McEvoy.
Coach Schneider says she's very excited for the future. "It's really exciting!! We return four players with varsity experience who were all big contributors to our success! We expect those four to step up and push themselves and their teammates in order to reach the goals they set! We have no doubt that these girls will be motivated and will have the drive to do whatever it takes to accomplish those goals!"
Of course we can't forget the near upset of LHNE in the Semifinals this year. Coach Schneider says her team really stepped things up in that match and played to their full potential. "Yeah, that match was unbelievable! It definitely speaks volumes about our program and the culture we have built! These girls have totally bought in and they want to be successful and they want to put the work in in order to reach that success! The whole season, we talked a lot about the potential they had and we've seen glimpses of it throughout the season, so we knew it was there! But the way these girls performed down at State was phenomenal! They all played to their potential and then some, like I can't even begin to describe it! They made it look so effortless! It was so amazing and so fun to watch them at their absolute best! "
Of course this past season was different due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Coach Schneider says she is thankful the team was able to make it through the entire season. "We are beyond thankful that we were able to complete our season the way we did! We were all in a very unique situation, and we were constantly reminding the girls to do their part, social distance, mask up, be mindful of where you go, who you hang out with, etc., because we knew we had a good thing going and we didn't want to jeopardize any part of it! We are blessed with such great players who are selfless because every single one of them did their part not only for themselves but for their teammates!!"
Here's to hoping things are back to normal by the start of next season and the Patriots get a good chunk of their offseason Coronavirus free.
No comments:
Post a Comment