2 weeks Ago
Marlee Backover couldn’t help but throw up. In the midst of a locker room celebration that included banging on the lockers and water bottles being sprayed all over the place, Backover, a senior libero for the Clarke County volleyball team, threw up in excitement after the No. 2-seeded Eagles swept No.
3 Central in the Region 2B semifinals on Thursday. Clarke never trailed throughout the entire match, as Isabel Aliveto led the way offensively with a match-high 21 kills to propel the Eagles to the sweep with the final scores of 25-19, 25-21, 25-14. With the win, Clarke (22-3) clinched a berth to the Class 2 state tournament for the first time since 2010.
The Eagles also clinched a spot in the Region 2B Championship, where they will play Fort Defiance on Tuesday, hoping to win the region for the first time in program history. Those accomplishments prompted setter Allie Lynch and the Eagles to have an emphatic celebration in the locker room. “It was pretty crazy,” Lynch said.
“There were waters flying everywhere, banging on the lockers, screaming. Someone threw up.” Clarke coach Skyler Layton said when she and assistant coach Darren Lambert walked into the locker room after the win, they saw Backover throwing up in excitement.
“I think that the nerves might have got to her a little bit, but coach and I came running in there, and she was vomiting in the trash can,” Layton said. The celebration came after the Eagles had a lopsided victory that began with a 4-1 lead in the first set after Aliveto had three kills in the first five possessions. After Central brought the set to 10-7, Clarke went on a 6-1 run to take a 16-8 lead.
Up 21-15 late, Lynch and Backover both dove near the scorer’s table to save the ball for Clarke, which ended up scoring a point on a kill by Aliveto to go up seven. It was that type of effort on defense that helped Clarke win the first set 25-19. “The two of those girls [Lynch and Backover], they say every single time that the floor should not have a ball hitting it unless a body is,” Layton said.
“The two of them definitely go out there with that kind of energy, and I think because the two of them, as seniors and leaders on the team, have that energy, everybody else on the court matches it.” Clarke started out the second set with an 11-4 lead. Central did bring the set within three, going on a 5-1 run, but the Eagles then went on a 6-3 run to bring the set to 18-12.
At that point, the Falcons recaptured the momentum and went on a 6-1 run to draw within one and force Clarke to take a timeout. That timeout paid off, as the Eagles went on one final run to win the second set. Bryn Franzen slapped down the game-winning kill in between two Central defenders to give Clarke a 2-0 set lead.
Clarke never looked back from that point, going up 5-0 early in the third set. Even as Central tried its best to weather the storm, Aliveto was too much for the Falcons to overcome. The sophomore outside hitter had nine kills in the final set, including the match-winning spike to give the Eagles their fourth victory over Central this season.
Lynch had three aces and 35 assists, many of which came on Aliveto’s 21 kills. “I think there was just a lot of anticipation leading up to this because when we found out what the brackets were, we assumed it would be Central,” Aliveto said. “So, we prepared ourselves after we knew that we had beaten them three times, and then we knew that we could do it again.
We brought that same energy we did for the championship game, and I think it really showed.” After the match, Clarke coach Skyler Layton said this season will be her last coaching the Eagles after being named head coach in 2020. Layton said the decision came after she had a daughter last season.
She added that she had to bring her daughter to practice at times this season, and she feels like the team needs a coach who can devote more time while also giving her family her full attention. Layton said there is no replacement in line yet. But after advancing to the state tournament on Thursday, Layton, who didn’t know who next week’s opponent was at the time, still has more coaching to do.
“We knew that the team could do it,” Layton said. “Super exciting. I'm hoping that we can head into the state championship as region champions.
I'm not sure who we play yet, but we're going to give them hell.” Central ended its season 19-6, with four of those losses coming against Clarke County. Central coach Ashlie Clar said she was proud of how her team competed after getting swept by Clarke 25-16, 25-11, 25-21 in their first meeting in September.
“The very first time we played Clarke, we basically got embarrassed, so tonight, I thought that we came out strong, and we played every point as hard as we could,” Clar said. “Unfortunately, we made some errors in each set that really cost us the game, but I'm really proud of the work that we put in.” After winning the region title last season, Central was one game shy of the championship game.
Clar said making it this far was a great achievement. “It's definitely an accomplishment, making it this far,” Clar said. “The girls work hard every single day.
We just put in the work, and it's not easy getting to the point where we get to and because of the program that we have, we're able to do that. It just shows that we have good people in our program. We have girls that are willing to work and get better every day.
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