Clyde volleyball team feeling better after sweeping tri

Clyde coach Betty Hasselbach and her team weren’t pleased after a loss last week to Old Fort. Thursday, the Fliers did something about it.

The Fliers topped host Fremont Ross, 25-10, 25-22, before defeating Route 20 rival Bellevue, 16-25, 25-16, 25-20, to improve their record to 3-1 on the season.

“I’m really happy with our intensity here,” Hasselbach said. “We had the tough loss to Old Fort where we didn’t communicate and didn’t play well. Against Bellevue and Ross, we communicated, played well, and gave a good team effort.”

Against Bellevue, the Fliers jumped out to a 6-1 lead before the Lady Red (1-3) came storming back. A service ace by Shalee Weider finished off Game 1, as Bellevue won the final three points of the game.

“We came out strong against Clyde,” Bellevue coach Karen Irons said. “We started strong but our serve receive let us down. It turned into a battle of wills.”

In the second game, the Lady Red won five straight points to cut the Clyde lead to 18-16. Then, in a flash, the Fliers went on a run. They won the final seven points of the game to tie the match and held a 17-6 lead in the final game. In total, Clyde won 24 of 30 points to take a commanding lead.

“We did a lot of digging on defense,” Hasselbach said. “We did a better job on our serve receive. When we did a better job on that, we were able to put balls down and win points.”

Bellevue battled back, but it wasn’t enough to top the hitting of the Fliers.

Grace Borden was key for Clyde in the opening match of the night. Six kills from the junior allowed Clyde to breeze past Ross (0-3) in Game 1, 25-10. The second game was much closer, as the teams exchanged points for 20 consecutive points, moving a 6-6 tie to a 16-16 score. Later, consecutive kills from sophomore Heidi Marshall gave Clyde the victory.

In the nightcap, Bellevue got its first win of the season, defeating Ross, 25-17, 25-9. Big hitting from Brianna Stockmaster (15 kills), Jenna Strayer (12), Weider (11), and Allison Dendinger (10) keyed the Lady Red throughout the night. Setter Morgan Hicks tallied 49 assists while Cassidy Fultz had 28 digs and Weider had 20 digs.

“Neither match did we play like our normal self,” Ross coach Lyndsey Robinson said. “We weren’t aggressive. We had touches but didn’t play well.”

After three matches in 24 hours to start their season, the Little Giants will look to regroup.

“We have to fix some miscommunications before opening league play,” Robinson said. “We will get better.”