Clear Creek Amana senior Lauren HelleBy Ryan Murken
Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – Volleyball can be a game of wild momentum swings.

Clear Creek Amana found itself on the wrong end of one of those swings on Tuesday night.

Williamsburg rode some late momentum and the duo of Mickala Stallman and Molly Wetjen to a 12-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-15, 15-3 win over Clear Creek Amana in a WAMAC west divisional match on Tuesday in Tiffin.

Stallman and Wetjen each had two kills in the fifth set as Williamsburg improved to 8-13 on the season.

“Volleyball is a game of momentum, it really is,” Williamsburg co-head coach Janel Burgess said. “I thought we finished game four pretty strong serving-wise especially and then we have servers step up and really nail some great serves and took them out of rhythm.”

Williamsburg closed the fourth set on a 14-4 run to force a decisive fifth set and seize the momentum.

The Raiders never let the lead or the momentum go in the fifth set.

Williamsburg scored the first three points in the fifth set and never trailed handing Clear Creek Amana (15-14) its sixth loss in its last seven matches.

“I think you could see that momentum with the way we started and I won’t lie we were exhausted,” Burgess said. “To see us mentally be able to push through that is a really good growing moment for this team.”

Clear Creek Amana roared to an 8-2 lead in the opening set and never let up, cruising to a 25-12 win in the opener.

The Clippers appeared poised to take control of the match, building a 23-19 lead in the second set.

However, Williamsburg scored the final six points of the set, evening the match at one set apiece on an ace block by Brittni Gilbert.

“I think the fact that we won the first set got in our heads,” Clear Creek Amana sophomore Shauntina Williams said. “I feel like we came in knowing that we were going to win.”

Clear Creek Amana grabbed the momentum back with a 25-14 win in the third set behind five kills by senior Lauren Helle.

Williams had a match-high 15 kills to lead Clear Creek Amana while Helle added 12 kills for the Clippers.

It wasn’t enough as Williamsburg snapped an 11-11 tie in the fourth set with a 14-4 run and never let Clear Creek Amana lead again.

Stallman led Williamsburg with 10 kills while Emily Simmons had nine kills.

“We ended up being able to just play our roles and we had some key subs that were really important for us as well,” Burgess said. “Whenever a team hits adversity it’s how you are going to pull together and I thought we did a great job of just owning who we were.”

Clear Creek Amana hosts its own tournament on Saturday before opening the WAMAC tournament next week.

“We need to have a better practice and just work on our fundamentals,” Williams said. “If we believe in ourselves I think we can do better.”

Williamsburg             12 25 14 25 15
Clear Creek Amana  25 23 25 15   3 

(Kills-aces-blocks)
Clear Creek Amana
Sheyanne Koethe 0-6-0, Riley Hennes 0-1-0, Shauntina Williams 15-0-0, Kelsey Lipkea 0-1-0, Lauren Helle 12-0-1, Claire Schwarting 4-0-2, Karsyn Stratton 0-0-1, Mckenzie Justice 7-1-1, Cheyaenne Bunch 0-1-0, Amelia Pereira 2-1-0, Team 40-10-6.
Assists – Cheyaenne Bunch 20, Riley Hennes 7, Sheyanne Koethe 1.

Williamsburg
Caley Courneya 2-0-1, Karly Berkland 0-3-0, Brittni Gilbert 7-2-2, Molly Wetjen 6-1-1, Emily Simmons 9-1-0, Jazzmyn Newman 4-0-0, Mickala Stallman 10-0-2, Team 38-7-6.
Assists – Molly Wetjen 21, Mickala Stallman 6.