CLINTON — The Clinton Lady Maroons hit the hardwood on Thursday, September 2, for their first home matches of the year. 

The opponents for the night were Route 51 foes, the Heyworth Lady Hornets buzzing from the north. 

The volleyball program has a full crew this year with a freshman, junior varsity (JV) and varsity team.  The prospects look good for the year if this evening was any indication.  The teams fought hard for each point and never buckled under pressure, always fighting through the tough sets.

The freshmen ladies took the court first and faltered a bit to start falling behind by a significant score but did not buckle under, fighting through until taking the set 25-23.  The second set was a scorcher with the first volleys going for several minutes at a time. The set was close throughout until, at 15 points each, the opposition dug deeper and was able to take the second set 25-16.  Thus, the freshmen split their match 1-1.

In the JV match, the Lady Maroons took the early lead and let it slide away.  At 11-12 points, the home team caught up with the Lady Hornets, and the first set became a battle for superiority. 

The set went into extra volleys with the Lady Maroons finally victorious at 27-25. 

The second set went much quicker as the Lady Maroons controlled the volleys and the Lady Hornets seemed disheartened by their recent close loss.  The home team took the set 25-16 and the match 2-0.

The final match of the night saw the varsity squads from both teams taking to the court. 

The first set saw the Lady Maroons take command early on, and they didn’t waver in their resolve to take a win.  The final of the first set was Clinton 25, Heyworth 18. 

The second set was closer at the start as the home team took the lead and let it slip away as the Lady Hornets swarmed back into the fray. 

But, on this night, the Lady Maroons were the better team, coming back at 14 points to retake control of the set to win 25-17.  The varsity won their match 2-0. 

The Lady Maroons wore  three different uniforms during the night.  The freshmen were in maroon and white uniforms, the JV team appeared in the newer era black and gold uniforms, and the varsity showed up in gold and maroon. 

• Also read this sports story and others in the Friday, Sept. 10, print edition of the Clinton Journal and in the Journal E-Edition for subscribers.