MANKATO — Yeah, postseason volleyball is knocking on the door.
A well polished Cleveland volleyball team turned back a strong challenge by a determined Mankato Loyola outfit Tuesday night, defeating the Crusaders 25-17, 25-17, 25-23 in a Valley Conference match at Fitzgerald gym.
Senior left-side hitter Melia Sathoff blasted 18 kills and senior outside hitter Taylor McCabe authored 12 more as the No. 6 Clippers improved to 20-2 overall and 4-0 in the Valley. Junior setter Joceyln Kortuem collected five kills, three blocks and 34 set assists for the winners, who also received 19 digs from senior libero Delaney Thompson and 12 digs from junior Luci Blaschko.
“We started off a little rocky, but then as our energy got going our adrenaline took over,” McCabe said. “We did a really good job today of not slowing it down and pushing forward. We’re a very close team outside of volleyball and being close friends really helps a lot.”
Loyola (20-6, 2-2) countered the Clippers’ attack with some solid hitting up front as well. Senior outside hitter Olivia Templin smacked 12 kills and came up with 11 digs to lead the way while senior middle hitter Aryah Zuehlke registered eight kills, including her 500th career ace hit midway though the first set. Freshman outside hitter Madi Linder chipped in six kills for the Crusaders and senior right-side hitter nailed five.
“We learned some things we need to work on, including closing out blocks,” Zuehlke said. “We need to work on when the other team is tipping. We had too many service errors but that can be easily fixed. We’re excited about the way we played and our chances to play them in the sections. It was definitely the best we’ve ever played against them so we should be proud of that. … We were aggressive and kept swinging even then they had a big block up.”
Cleveland led set one from start to finish, taking advantage of six Crusaders’ serving errors to keep a safe lead throughout. After a kill and block from Kortuem put the Clippers in front 22-15, two blasts from Sathoff set up McCabe’s set-ending kill.
“We were keeping our serves in keeping the ball in play,” Sathoff said. “I limited my hitting errors. We really push each other and are very supportive of each other. I feel Jocelyn makes good choices with her setting and we have a lot of hitters.”
Zuehlke ripped back-to-back kills to pull the Crusaders even at two in the second set. After Liviana Lee’s kill and a service ace from senior Kaitlyn Flowers produced a 17-16 Clippers’ advantage, Lee’s block triggered a game-ending 8-1 surge that Sathoff capped with a sideline bullet.
“Loyola came ready to play and they’ve got some kids who can really rip the ball and get after it offensively,” Cleveland coach Dave Nixon said. “They’re a solid team so you have to key on their key hitters. We just needed to stay aggressive and (play defense). We let them get into their offense too easily at times. They made us finish each set strong and we did. We’re more balanced this year and we’re getting good production from both the middles and outside.”
Loyola looked like it might force a fourth set as some aggressive play to start the third set helped set the tone for a chance at the end. However, the veteran Clippers responded down the stretch after Linder’s ace tip and kill gave the Crusaders a 20-17 lead. A trio of winners from Sathoff even things up before Linder’s slicing kill off a black made it 21-20. McCabe’s spike snapped a 22-22 deadlock before two miscues ended things.
“Our girls showed they can play at a high level,” Loyola coach Erica Swanson said. “They kept their composure throughout the entire match and played their best volleyball tonight. We came out that first game a little shy with our serving, but we got much better after that. We never gave up and we never acted like we were going to lose. We continued to play hard every single point.
“We know what we need to work on in order to make a playoff run.”
Loyola hosts Madelia Thursday and Cleveland entertains Martin County West the same night.