Eagles gear up for final stretch of 2021 season!

Article submitted by Max Miesse | Photo courtesy of Max Miesse

This year's Clark State volleyball team has been very fun to watch, even if the season hasn't panned out exactly as they might have hoped for. There are four games remaining on their schedule, and they sit four games under .500 at 8-12. The Eagles have won 3 of their last 4 matches, and are poised to make a run back to even. They have played through this much of the season as an all-or-nothing kind of team. Out of 20 matches played, 13 of them have ended in just three sets. The Eagles have been on the winning side of five of those sweeps.

On Saturday, Clark State played against Lakeland Community College, whom they defeated 3-1 in their previous matchup in the year. The Saturday game will conclude a four-game road trip, their last of the season. In the other three games, Coach Arthur's team has gone 2-1, winning eight of the 12 sets they played. Actually it's a bit more like six of the 10 sets they played. The first match of their road trip was against Miami University Hamilton. The Eagles ran away with Set 1, winning 25-12, and after that, Miami University Hamilton surrendered. Clark State won the match via forfeit after one set. We can only theorize as to the reason for the forfeit, but a likely source for the forfeit is a lack of players. The Harriers only have six rostered players. There are six spots to fill on the court.

However it happened, and whatever the reason, the Eagles put one in the win column and moved on to face the Heidelberg University JV squad. In their previous matchup, the Eagles lost a very close 3-1 match. Round two proved to be even closer. The tone was set from the start, as the first set went into the volleyball equivalent of overtime. Sets are played first to 25, but the winner has to win by two points. 25 points was not enough, but Clark State pulled it out and secured a tight 27-25 victory. Set number two offered no extra room to breathe as it was just one point away from forcing extra time, but the Eagles held serve and earned a 25-23 victory, going up two sets to none, needing just one more win. Lindsey Brayton led the team in points (21) and digs (25) throughout the match, but she'd tell you anytime that an Eagles win was the most important stat. Set three got underway, with the Eagles needing 25 points to seal the win, but Heidelberg played hard with their backs to the wall. A volleyball match can't get much closer, and when the first team reached 25 points, it still wasn't settled. The winning team ended up needing 28 points in Set three, and Heidelberg still had life. Winning that set, and forcing a 4th set. Clark State could still finish things off with a win in set four, but they stumbled out of the gate and weren't able to recover. The most lopsided set of the game went to Heidelberg, 25-17. Suddenly it was tied 2-2, and momentum was on Heidelberg's side entering a winner-take-all Set number five. If a game ever reaches a 5th set, the winning number gets dropped from 25 down to just 15. An early stumble like the Eagles had in Set four would be very difficult to recover from with such a short scoreboard. Set five stayed true to form as the rest of the game did, it was incredibly close. When the ball hit the floor for the final time, the scoreboard was once again as close as it could be. 15-13. Heidelberg had won. And in doing so, they completed the comeback, storming from down 2-0 to finishing with a 3-2 victory. It was heartbreaking for the Eagles, but hardly anything to regret, as both teams fought hard and played excellent volleyball.

Following that gut-wrenching loss was a matchup with the Mount Vernon JV squad. These two hadn't met up since early September, where the Eagles took care of business with a 3-0 sweep. The rematch played out similarly. Tessa Walling led the Eagles with a 24.5 point performance, and Lindsey Brayton was right behind her with 20.5 points of her own. Allison DeWitt led the team with 10 digs, and the Eagles were able to lock up a 3-1 victory, allowing only 11 points in set two, and just 12 points in set four.

Their next game will be a rematch with Hockey College, whom the Eagles defeated earlier in the season. That will start the final home stand of the season, with a game against Hocking College. That game will be Wednesday, October 20, at 6 p.m. at Clark State.