CL Hawks Win Close One, 3-2 Over Poth Pirates
Hawk’s Back Row prepares for battle. (Claire Schroeder, Maddie Olberholtzer, Madison Hartman & Emily Pena)
The CL Hawk’s Volleyball team finished with enough umphspa for staving off a furious Poth comeback winning this 5 Set battle, 3-2.
Let’s GO HAWKS!!
An early afternoon start did not result in an early evening exit since this Pirates team would not fold up and go home when they responded with two set wins that tied CL’s invincible 2-0 lead which had the home team never trailing during those first two sets.
A major reason for the ups and downs in this contest was seeing the amount of unforced errors by The Lake as those miscues were single digits during those first two sets and then it changed with 13 and 14 unforced errors during those next two losing sets.
“I was proud of our players that had a chance for opportunities but this is the time of the year we have to find out how they will perform when games count,” Head Coach Kim Clemons exclaimed when asked on her substitutions in that 3rd set loss. “Poth is a better team than who we played in the Tex-Fest Tournament last week and they had the upper hand during their comeback.”
Coach’s thoughts in that 5th set, “I thought the team did a good job of getting aggressive again and not being afraid to make a mistake which was how we got our lead when the day started.”
That was certainly a truism as the Hawks ran into their funk during the Pirates break-out and that fight returned during that 4th set after Poth was up, 19-12 and ready to blow CL out of the gym.
Madison Hartman & Chloe Gray have a brief rest in Hawk win over Poth!
CLHS did end up losing that exciting set, 31-29 as both teams see-sawed at the end with each having an advantage.
During that sequence, Madison Hartman was successful with 4 kills (finished with 10) but just could not pull off a quick exit, but had a 17-10 finish that still left CL short of going home in 4 sets.
“We were beating ourselves up,” Hartman said during Poth’s return from the abyss. “We just put in the right attitude and we knew we were capable and dug deep and took the whole game.”
“Madison Hartman is a consistent part of our offensive lineup and is athletic and makes up the continuity on the floor during play,” Coach Clemons said without hesitation.
That last set was a microcosm of this evening after The Lake opened with a lead to only lose it when Poth upped their advantage to a, 11-9 lead with less chances for a comeback.
That is when Emily Pena served for a 3 point rally which cemented this game into a one point possession back and forth.
Then, the Pirates, unforced errors returned in time for Canyon Lake to pull out a 3 hour marathon match and much needed victory, 15-13.
Canyon Lake had a deep 9th grade class last year (in all the sports) and that might be the same this school year seeing Freshman Chloe Gray coming on the court to a loud cheer from her freshman classmates (and of course) the rest of The Hawk Nation.
Gray has led CL in her last two Tex-Fest games leading in assists which for most volleyball teams can be the most important part for a team which many times is only as good as their setter.
Hartman & Gray after their marathon win over the Pirates.
“Chloe Gray is definitely stepping into her role as a vital part of our offense,” Coach Clemons praised.”
“We were confident when we started off strong,” Gray stated when asked bout the difference between the start and finish for this game. “But in that 3rd set it got into our head and we started playing sloppier.”
Gray continued, “Our energy was up and down but we got our mental game back and that helped us finish with more energy after getting our second wind.”
Astute reasoning for a player who did not play like a freshman.
Good start and Good comeback and Good Win!
Way to Go Hawks!!
Game Leaders: CL Hawks vs Poth Pirates: 25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 29-31 and 15-13. Kills: Claire Schroeder 20 Aces: Emily Pena 3 Assists: Emily Pena 28 Blocks: Claire Schroeder 1 Huntleigh Morast 1 Digs: Claire Schroeder 24 Freshman: Lost 16-25 & 24-26 Hawks JV: Lost 25-22, 9-25 & 18-25
