Clawson Volleyball Wins In Three Sets Over South Lake

The varsity volleyball team is coming together. 

It picked up a win in three straight sets (25-11, 25-20, 25-16) over South Lake on Thursday night at home in a Macomb Area Conference Silver division game.

The Cavaliers just didn’t have an answer for Trojans senior Alli Costine. Costine had aces in all three games and led Clawson in kills and blocks. She is the team's tallest player and most experienced with three years on varsity. 

“Height is great,” head coach Amy Reaume said. “We play against a lot of teams with taller girls, and she’s our tallest. Having her to be able to block is very important to us.”

Costine didn’t play in the back row last season, but Reaume has moved her around the court this year with great success.  

“This year I’ve played her all around,” Reaume said. “Big hitter in the back row to be able to hit some of those back spots, that’s a big step in the direction we want to go. She’s awesome in that back row.”

The lead in the first game went back and forth between the schools until Clawson went on a 12-1 run. The set was tied 9-9 and then the Trojans scored five straight points to take a 14-9 lead.

Emily Hirt ended an extended volley with a kill that forced South Lake to take the first time out of the match. 

Clawson gave up a point after the time out, but came right back and scored six more points to extend the lead to 21-10. Costine had three kills and a block to put her team in control and take the first set 25-16. 

The Cavaliers tried to gain back some momentum at the start of the second. The team scored five straight points to take a 5-0 lead and gained its biggest advantage of the night. The Trojans took advantage of two service errors and slowly worked their way back.

“That was a big turning point,” Costine said. “We got the momentum back. I don’t know why we lost (the momentum), but we tend to do that a lot.”

Reaume said she was happy that she didn’t need to call a time out to calm her team down.

“We talked on the court instead of me taking a time out to pull it back,” Reaume said. “It comes down to our captains pulling (the team) back in the game.”

Costine made a huge impact toward the end of the set. She scored the last four points of the set for the Trojans. She had a block to make it 22-17 and then came right back with a kill to put her team within two points of a 2-0 led at 23-17.

South Lake scored three points and then Costine ended it with a kill and an ace for a 25-20 win. 

In the third set, the teams were tied 9-9 for the third straight time. And for the third straight time Clawson went on a big run to stay in control. It scored 10 of the next 13 points and won 25-16.

The Trojans will play in the Port Huron High School tournament on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. Next week the team visits Center Line on Tuesday Sept. 27 at 6:30 a.m. and then East Detroit on Thursday Sept. 29 at 6:30 a.m.