Muscatine Article from the Clinton Herald

September 12, 2012

Queens close well to beat Muskies

Herald Staff Report

MUSCATINE — Trailing a ranked team two games to one was no problem for the Clinton volleyball team Tuesday night.

A fire alarm going off during the match wasn’t either.

The River Queens (9-6, 2-1 Mississippi Athletic Conference) beat Muscatine, ranked seventh in Class 5A, 17-25, 25-13, 18-25, 25-23, 15-12.

“It was a good win for us; I have a ton of respect for Muscatine,” Clinton coach Mark Massey said. “It would be tough to pick up a second MAC loss this early. We might feel like we lost contact with the people ahead of us. Now, I feel we’re right back in the mix.”

Clinton took early leads of 4-2 and 5-4 in Game 5, but Muscatine (9-4, 3-1) came back to tie the match at nine.

“It was back and forth,” Massey said. “In Game 5, we got points from a lot of different people serving. We always talk about runs. We had two runs of two and one of three. We held them to two runs of two but no three-point runs. That’s the difference in a 15-12 game.”

Another difference might be Alyssa Wing, who had six of her match-high 23 kills in the final game.

“I told her she was going to get the ball if I had a vote, and sometimes I’ve got an extra two or three electoral votes,” Massey said. “Monique (Harris) makes a pretty big difference, too. I told her as Muscatine got tired, it would be harder and harder for their block. They had a pretty good block most of the night. I trusted Mo to get Alyssa the ball in a good spot, and I trusted Alyssa to take a good swing at it.”

Harris had 49 assists in the match, and Wing knocked down the final kill to give Clinton the win. But Massey said it wasn’t an easy night for Wing, the reigning MAC player of their year.

“Muscatine’s libero was incredible,” he said. “She dug a lot of balls that Alyssa hit past the block, but Alyssa just brought back more. I think I’ve got some of the best players in the league. So I said, ‘Let’s roll them out and see what they can do.’ They didn’t disappoint.”

In Game 4, Clinton trailed early 10-4 and 13-8.

“Before Game 4, I told them if they won that one, they would win Game 5,” Massey said. “But it wasn’t looking really good. Then we got some really key serves from Elle (Tubbs). She had a big rotation and flipped it around.”

Erin Wenzel knocked down one of her 14 kills to give the River Queens a 21-16 lead in Game 4.

“It was a really big kill,” Massey said. “It turned on the fire alarm. I didn’t know she hit it hard enough to start a fire, though.”

Everyone was forced to go outside for four or five minutes, according to Massey, who said they treated it like an extended timeout.

“(Someone) mentioned it almost seemed like we were more focused when we started again, and that’s a credit to the kid’s mindset,” Massey said. “I think that might be the first time I’ve seen that. But I do have a little practice in that. Maybe four or five years ago in Yourd, we had a tornado warning. That one we had to go to the basement. This one was easy.”

Clinton finished off the fourth game and went on to win. Marquel Schultheis had two key blocks that forced sideouts during Game 4, as well.

“We had a good night all-around,” Massey said. “Everybody played well. It was fun. I’m really proud of the way the team played.”

Muscatine tops Clinton JV

Muscatine defeated Clinton 21-19, 21-13, 15-9 in junior varsity volleyball Tuesday night.

The River Queens were led by six kills from Hannah Dehner. Jordan Nelson dished out 10 assists. Dehner and Shannon Shovlain led the way with nine digs apiece, while Nelson and Gabby Haan each had eight.

Clinton sophomores fall

Muscatine defeated Clinton 21-25, 25-12, 15-12 on Tuesday night in sophomore volleyball action.

Rhegan Paulsen led the way with five kills. Raven Jones had seven assists, while Liz Wilke served two aces and Cheyenne Johnson had a block.

CLINTON 17-25-18-25-15, MUSCATINE 25-13-25-23-12

Clinton statistical leaders

Kills — Alyssa Wing 23, Erin Wenzel 14. Assists — Monique Harris 49. Ace serves — Elle Tubbs 4, Devin Matheny 4. Blocks — Tubbs 3, Marquel Schultheis 3. Digs — Gabby Haan 15, Shannon Shovlain 12.