It was thought to be one of the most balanced fields in years in this year's 1A Region B Regional Volleyball Tournament. But it was a dominating performance by McClave, as they swept to Region B championship and a spot in this week's State Volleyball Tournament. It will mark the ninth consecutive trip to the state tournament for McClave and fifth under coach Brianne Howe.
Joining them will be neighbor Wiley, as the Lady Panthers will be making their first trip back to the state tournament in six years. The two rivals kicked off the tournament, with McClave dominating Wiley in three straight games 25-20, 25-12, 25-10. After losing to Kit Carson in last week's District 2 Tournament, the Cards gained a measure of revenge with a hard fought three game sweep of the Lady Wildcats 25-23, 28-26, 25-18. Even the third game was closer than the score indicated. With the score tied at 18-18 junior Karlee Stuart served the final seven points of the match, as the Cards capitalized on several Carson errors.
Only in McClave's final match did they lose their first game of the tournament. It was a big-and-forth affair with Springfield, as the Longhorns were looking to create a three-way tie for first place with a win. With Springfield winning games one and three, the Lady Cards were down 2-1, They came out and handled Springfield easily in game four 25-11. Springfield jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the deciding fifth game, but McClave would come back again. A Sydney Curley kill gave the Cards a 13-11 lead, then Stuart wrapped it up with a big smash for a 15-12 win and a Regional championship.
For the day, the trio of Stuart, Curley, and senior Adrianne Cline were the ringleaders offensively for McClave. Stuart had a slight edge in kills over the other two hitters, while Cline was equally effective at the net with 13 blocks on the day.
Sporting her two week old son, coach Brianne Howe was elated after the big win. "These girls just responded. We didn't play well and we didn't look good a week ago at districts, but they are champions. They know how to respond. We were down 2-1 to Springfield and came back and showed some character. I am so proud of the way we played and the way we played together as a team. We will go up there and see how we do now," said a happy Howe after the win.
