Published: September 10, 2008 11:24 am            

River Queens get win over North

DAVENPORT — Over the years, Davenport North hasn't seen too many volleyball opponents rally to win on its homecourt. Of course, Ashley Haugen and most of her Clinton High School teammates are new to varsity volleyball this year and might not know about the North tradition under coach Amy Baker.

And if they knew, they certainly didn't care Tuesday night.

Haugen spearheaded an early run that turned a three-point deficit into a three-point lead, and she played a key role the rest of the night as the River Queens swept the Wildcats 25-19, 25-10, 25-18 in their Mississippi Athletic Conference opener.

“Nobody comes in this gym and wins three straight very often,” Clinton coach Mark Massey said.

The River Queens (2-5) did it by frustrating North from the service line and mixing up its offensive attack. They kept the Wildcats off balance by mixing hard attacks, with tip and push returns and also were effective with second-hit returns.

“I'm happy with every single facet of the game tonight,” Massey said.

“We were just trying to keep them moving and thinking,” said Haugen, a junior who had 17 assists, four kills, two blocks and three aces. “They never knew what we were going to do.”

Haugen and senior Sarah Wenzel, the lone returning varsity player, jumpstarted the Clinton offense with their team trailing 9-6 in the first game. Wenzel forced a sideout with a kill, and Haugen served six consecutive points. She assisted on four of them, all but one to Wenzel, who led Clinton with 17 kills in the match.

“I think we had such a big run on serves that the team got pumped up,” Haugen said. “We weren't playing at our level (at the start).”

Although North pulled within one point six times, Clinton never relinquished the lead. Haugen finished it off with four consecutive service points.

She put together her third serving run of the night midway through Game 2, pretty much sealing that win. She assisted on a Leisha Harris kill for an 8-5 lead, then served eight consecutive points. She started that run with an ace and added two more in a row that pushed the lead to 15-5.

Even when the River Queens weren't delivering aces, their serves prevented North from getting into any kind of offensive rhythm.

Paige Guidebeck got Clinton rolling in Game 3 with three consecutive service points to open the game. She added two of her three aces later, back-to-back, as Clinton pushed the advantage to 19-9. Clinton finished off the win on a block by Harris and sophomore Courtney Camp to end the third game. Harris was a key contributor off the bench with five kills and four blocks, and Camp had two kills and three blocks in her varsity debut.

After going 1-5 in two season-opening tournaments, the win has the Clinton players believing they're headed in the right direction.

“Most of us never played together, and in the tournaments we didn't play well,” Haugen said. “This is a huge boost to know we can play that well together and get wins.”

Clinton def. Davenport North 25-19, 25-10, 25-18

Statistical leaders

Kills—Clinton 39 (Sarah Wenzel 17, Leisha Harris 5, Sarah Massey 5, Mallory Voss 4, Ashley Haugen 4).

Blocks—Clinton 5 (Harris 4 assists, Camp 3 assists, Haugen 1 solo, 1 assist).

Assists—Clinton 34 (Haugen 17, Paige Guidebeck 12).

Ace serves—Clinton 7 (Haugen 3, Guidebeck 3).

Digs—Clinton 65 (Katie Sass 24, Massey 16, Wenzel 10).

        

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