When the story of 2020 is written, the ways in which the coronavirus had an impact on day-to-day activities will be too numerous to count. If you are counting, two is the number of Malcolm volleyball starters who were unable to make the trip to the Clippers’ C1-3 district final matchup played Oct. 31 in Aurora due to COVID-19 contact tracing.
The trip west was relatively quick as No. 4 ranked Kearney Catholic took advantage of Malcolm’s personnel challenges to earn a 25-15, 25-19, 25-22 sweep over the Clippers.
The Stars established their dominance early as Malcolm struggled to stay in system. Very little went the Clippers’ way as the Kearney Catholic lead continued to grow. The Stars led by six when head coach Amber Dolliver took her first timeout. The lead had grown to eight by the second timeout.
“We played scared and it showed up in every aspect of our game,” Dolliver said. “We didn’t pass well, we didn’t serve well and we had too many errors all around.”
Kearney Catholic kept its foot on the gas and jumped out to a 9-3 lead to open the second set.
“We took a timeout to challenge the girls,” Dolliver said. “I told them we could get embarrassed or we could start playing the kind of volleyball everyone knows we’re capable of playing.”
A couple of key plays from sophomore setter Lauryn England helped Malcolm get back in the contest as the Clippers closed the lead to two points to force Stars’ coach Kris Conner to call a timeout.
The rest of the set consisted of momentum swings as Kearney Catholic scored four straight points coming out of the timeout. The Clippers answered with England landing three consecutive ace serves. The Stars kept Malcolm at arm’s length by outscoring the Clippers 8-5 down the stretch.
Things finally started to come together for the Clippers in the third set. But in the end, the Stars did enough to get the win and earn their 19th trip to the state tournament.
With two front-line starters out of the lineup, Kiley Elkins and Kaitlyn Dostal got the bulk of the swings. Elkins led the Clippers with 14 kills while Dostal slammed 12 to the ground in the final match of her high school career.
Addy Hanson suited up for and saw her first varsity action this season as she stepped in to fill the vacated role of middle blocker.
“She got to every block and closed almost every time,” Dolliver said of the sophomore. “I gave her one job to do, and she did it well.”
England finished the day with 27 assists while also getting four service aces, two kills and digging 10 balls. Joslyn Small led the Clippers with 13 digs.
The Clippers opened postseason play Oct. 26 with a 22-25, 18-25, 25-21, 26-24, 15-10 loss to Raymond Central in subdistricts.
Elkins led the way with 23 kills, four ace serves and 11 digs. Small set a single match school record with 28 digs. England had 43 assists, nine digs and six kills.
Malcolm finished the 2020 campaign with a 19-9 record.
“Overall, this was probably the best defensive team we’ve had in three years,” Dolliver said. “I’m proud of the season and what the girls accomplished.”
The Clippers say goodbye to three seniors. In their high school careers, Dostal, Small and Ashlynn Sehi made one appearance in the state tournament and four trips to the district finals.
“Each of our seniors knew their role and did what they needed to do to help their team,” Dolliver said. “Joslyn made huge strides as she stepped into the libero position in the middle of the season. Ashlynn helped us out with great blocks and she passed really well. Kaitlyn did a great job on the outside putting the ball away.”
