Girls volleyball: With new confidence, Clearfield digs deep to tally region win over Northridge
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- Clearfield High players celebrate a point against Northridge in a girls volleyball region match Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Clearfield. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Northridge High’s Morgan Hale (12) reaches to hit the ball as Clearfield’s Jaclyn Clark (22) jumps for a block in a girls volleyball region match Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Clearfield. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Clearfield High’s Anna Leon tosses the ball to serve to Northridge in a girls volleyball region match Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Clearfield. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Northridge High’s Bianca Merrill rises to hit at the net in a girls volleyball region match against Clearfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Clearfield. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Northridge High players celebrate a point against Clearfield in a girls volleyball region match Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Clearfield. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Clearfield High’s Jordan Christensen reaches to hit her serve against Northridge in a girls volleyball region match Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Clearfield. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Northridge High’s McKell King directs the ball in a girls volleyball region match against Clearfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Clearfield. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Northridge High’s Brooklyn Mayfield receives a Clearfield ball in a girls volleyball region match Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Clearfield. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Northridge High’s Morgan Hale kneels to dig the ball in a girls volleyball region match against Clearfield on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Clearfield. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Clearfield High’s Frida Speier looks up the ball to serve in a girls volleyball region match against Northridge on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Clearfield. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
CLEARFIELD — First-year Clearfield volleyball coach Amy Dannehl had to wait most of August to get her first high school varsity win, but September dawned with her initial victory at the region level.
Clearfield rallied from down one set to capture an exciting 3-2 (25-20, 18-25, 14-25, 25-17, 15-10) Region 5 triumph over Northridge on Tuesday.
The Falcons were 0-4 overall (0-1 in Region 5 with a loss to Fremont last week) before going 3-3 in the Empire Invitational on August 28 and 29.
“Region definitely matters to us. We have some good teams in our region like Fremont and West Field,” Dannehl said. “I think region feels good to win more than anything else.”
Clearfield actually beat Northridge 2-1 in the Empire Invitational and scouted the Knights extensively on film coming into their match Tuesday.
After Clearfield (4-7, 1-1 Region 5) took set one, Northridge went up 2-1 behind the power hitting of Morgan Hale and serving of Brooklyn Mayfield before the Falcons battled back.
“They changed some things with their defense; different from our film on them. There were some open spots we expected to hit that weren’t there, so we had to adjust,” Dannehl said. “After the third set, we said, ‘OK, we’re not getting them where we thought we could. Now where should we go?’
“Sets two and three, we were sloppy. We were making all the mistakes. We cleaned it up and stopped hitting into the net. We stopped missing our serves,” Dannehl said.
Where Northridge’s defense had grounded the Falcons to that point, Clearfield found a new way to attack.
“We had to mix it up. We had to speed up our offense and move the ball. We set quicker and our hitters were striking higher, before the block could actually get there,” Dannehl said. “The quick offense was a huge thing; technical things we did better.”
Tied at two sets apiece, and 3-3 in the fifth set, junior outside hitter Ducati Lassig scored Clearfield’s next seven points as the lead became 10-4, though she was quick to credit her teammates.
“Seven points? Really?” Lassig asked. “That’s cool, because our setter Ava (Rasband) got good sets to me. Picking up the pace a lot helped. My teammates are amazing.
“As a team, we all did really good. Everyone was getting really good passes and was able to get the ball up,” Lassig said. “The sets were really good and that’s how I was able to put the ball down.”
Lassig had 15 kills for the match. She also credited her new coach.
“I listened to my coaches; they told me to swing as hard as I could. I was trying to get deep corner and hit over the block,” Lassig said. “Playing for a new coach has been an adjustment. Dannehl pushes us. She doesn’t care if we win or lose, but just expects us to play our best.”
Dannehl probably does care if her team wins or loses, but picking up those three wins in the Empire Invitational turned out to be a brilliant scheduling move by the rookie coach.
“At the tournament, we were able to talk a lot more, have a lot more chemistry. We tried some new things; made us more comfortable playing with each other,” Lassig said. “There was a lot of bonding over the weekend. It was fun and helped us coming into this game, knowing we had played them before and that we could win.
“Down 2-1, our entire team had grit. We all said we’re not going to lose like this. Everyone was hyped up and had that belief,” Lassig added.
Junior outside hitter Jordan Christensen had 11 kills for the Falcons, while junior Frida Speier scored 18 service points and senior libero Erin Lowry went deep for an astonishing 32 digs.
Northridge (2-12, 1-2) stats were not available.
Bob Judson has been covering high school sports for the Standard-Examiner for 51 years.
High School Sports
Girls volleyball: With new confidence, Clearfield digs deep to tally region win over Northridge
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