ST. PAUL — For the first time in program history, Cleveland volleyball played in a state quarterfinal match.
The Clippers walked into the unknown onto a stage they’ve never set foot on with a town of 700 people fully behind them at Grand Casino Arena Thursday night.
The Clippers fell 22-25, 26-24, 15-25, 17-25 to Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa.
Cleveland faces North Woods, who fell in straight sets to Mayer Lutheran, in the consolation semifinals at 1 p.m. Friday.
“When we were clicking, they struggled to defend us at times. But we struggled to defend them as well,” Clippers coach Dave Nixon said. “It was a match of who’s going to be in system and who’s going to set the tone offensively. A lot of times they were the team that was setting the tone.
“They just took more big swings than we did tonight.”
The Clippers dropped the opening frame after eight ties and a trio of lead changes saw the Jaguars turn a 15-15 tie into a 19-16 lead. The three-point advantage held to be the deciding factor in a stanza where Cleveland opened to the tune of a 6-1 lead.
Cleveland got going once again in set two, opening six-point leads on multiple occasions. BBE pushed to close the gap, turning an 18-12 Clippers lead into a 23-23 tie. The Clippers stormed to claim three of the frame’s final points to tie the match.
The Jaguars never trailed in the third frame, taking its first six points and leading by no less than three. The Clippers got back within six points at 17-11, but the Jaguars took eight of the final 12 points for a 2-1 match lead.
BBE continued its hot streak in the fourth frame, using a 9-1 run to take a 12-3 lead and force Nixon to burn his final timeout of the frame. The advantage grew to 11 points, but the Clippers weren’t ready to roll over and give the Jaguars an easy win.
In what felt like a blink of an eye the Jaguars were calling timeout. Cleveland surged on a 9-1 run to cut the deficit down to 18-13. If there was any opportunity to sway momentum and force a fifth set, it was in that moment.
But the Jaguars had a response, taking seven of the final 10 points to punch their ticket to the semifinals.
“In other years we’ve been close, but we’ve never been as close as we are today,” sophomore setter Jocelyn Kortuem said. “We’ve never been as supportive to each other as we are (today). I feel like we just came in thinking that getting to state was enough, but that’s just me.”
Taylor McCabe paced the Clippers with 23 kills to go with 20 digs and a solo block. Melia Sathoff earned 13 kills, 17 digs, an ace and a block. Kortuem racked up 38 assists, 13 digs, three kills and an ace. Delaney Thompson had a team-best 27 digs. Luci Blaschko had 10 digs.