Just too much firepower. When the Malcolm volleyball team lined up to play the Subdistrict C1-4 final Oct. 26 against No. 1 Lincoln Lutheran, they knew it would take a near perfect performance to win.
The Clippers came up short of perfection as their season came to an end in a 25-21, 25-13, 25-23 sweep.
After Malcolm opened the first set with a 4-1 lead, the Warriors went on a 7-0 run. The Clippers battled back with a 5-0 run of their own, but Lincoln Lutheran was able to spread out its attack enough to overwhelm Malcolm. Six different Warrior players recorded kills in the opening set.
“Lutheran is solid all the way around,” Malcolm coach Amber Dolliver said. “Their passing and defense is amazing, and they seem to get every ball up and play mistake free.”
Set two was a rough one for the Clippers as Lutheran stayed hot throughout with Ashlynn DeBoer slamming five kills in the 12-point rout.
Not wanting the season to end, Malcolm played its best ball in the final set. Kiley Elkins opened with the hot hand. The senior had a block and three kills to help the Clippers to a 5-2 lead.
The combination of DeBoer and Abby Wachal proved to be too much as Lutheran rallied back to complete the sweep and advance to the district final. The two pin hitters combined for 24 kills.
When the final wildcard points were tallied, Malcolm came up just short of earning the final spot in the C1 district finals. That spot went to Mitchell, a team that played an arguably less competitive schedule. Malcolm faced six Class B schools and six tier one opponents while the Tigers’ only tier one opponent came in their district final match.
“The reality is, if we wanted to be in the district finals, we needed to win,” Dolliver said. “The game plan was to beat Lutheran and that didn’t happen. Because of our losses during the season, our wild card points were not what they needed to be. We controlled our destiny.”
Elkins led the team with 15 kills and 10 digs in her final match wearing Clipper blue. Diamond Sedlak helped the cause with a team-high 11 digs while Reagan Wondercheck had three blocks and Lauryn England offered up 21 assists.
Malcolm advanced to the subdistrict final with a 25-18, 26-24, 23-25, 25-19 win over Raymond Central on Oct. 25. Elkins had a season-high 26 kills against the Mustangs while England dished out 51 assists.
The Clippers finished the season with a 24-8 record. Included in the win total are triumphs over five state qualifiers, including two from the Class B field – Northwest and Adams Central.
“Because of how hard the girls worked, this proved to be one of the best teams we’ve had in a number of years,” Dolliver said. “We made the schedule hard because we wanted to push them. I wanted them to play top competition throughout the regular season to help us prepare for postseason. It’s unfortunate that it ended in subdistricts.”
The team will say goodbye to seven seniors, two of whom will continue their volleyball careers in college. Elkins recently announced her commitment to play at Nebraska Wesleyan. Gracie Burwell is committed to Doane.
“Those seniors are a great group of girls who did their jobs and stayed positive,” Dolliver said. “They gave it their all this season, and I’m proud of what they accomplished and how they grew as volleyball players as well as young women.”
