While some are prettier than others, a win is still a win. The Malcolm volleyball team dug deep and found a way to secure its 16th win of the season by putting away Platteview on Oct. 17 in a grueling, sometimes ugly, five-set match. Callie Schroeder’s spike off the hands of the two Trojans’ defenders finished off the 25-23, 16-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-12 win.
After trailing by as many as four points midway through the first set, Malcolm went on an 8-2 run to take a two point lead. Platteview answered with a 6-3 run of its own to retake the lead, 22-19 before the Clippers closed the set on a 6-1 flurry.
“Teams don’t typically beat us,” Malcolm coach Amber Dolliver said. “We tend to beat ourselves with poor passing and poor serving.”
The Trojans took advantage of too many Malcolm mistakes in the second set before the Clippers battled back to take set three. Platteview had control most of the fourth set and appeared to have the momentum going into the final frame.
After falling behind 6-2, Dolliver called a timeout to settle her team. It did the trick as Malcolm stormed back and eventually won five of the final seven rallies.
Payton Dolliver led the Clippers with 20 kills and three ace serves. Schroeder added 12 kills. Malcolm overcame 20 service errors.
“When we can serve aggressive and pass well, we can play with anyone,” Coach Dolliver said. “If those two things aren’t working – and we miss 20 serves – things will be harder.”
Throughout the match, Malcolm had as many as three freshmen on the court at the same time.
“We’re a pretty young team,” Dolliver said. “That inexperience comes with some mistakes from time-to-time.”
That can mean making a system change in the middle of the match, which Dolliver did when she went back to the 6-2 offense Malcolm ran at the beginning of the season. That meant inserting Anna Grace Christensen into the lineup to assist with serving and setting duties. The senior made the most of her final home match by offering up 13 assists, including the match-winner to Schroeder.
“Sometimes connections between setters and hitters are off and we just need a change,” Dolliver said. “The easiest and best way for us is going to the 6-2.”
Malcolm opened the week with an Oct. 14 home sweep of Nebraska City, 25-14, 25-13, 25-18.
The Clippers (16-11) close out the regular season with a Tuesday road trip to Ralston (4-21) before visiting Crete (3-24) on Thursday, Oct. 24.
