PIEDMONT -- When the Clearwater volleyball team couldn't shake visiting Doniphan early in the second game Tuesday night, never leading by more than a point, all it needed was faith.
Clearwater junior Faith Hoppe's serve found the back corner of the court just inside the line, sparking a 5-1 run that allowed the Tigers to take control. Clearwater served up four more aces in the opening set to cruise past the visiting Donettes 25-12, 25-16.
"Our servers did a good job of hitting spots tonight and a lot of that started with Faith," Clearwater coach Lisa Ayers said of Hoppe. "She has a very good serve with some top spin to move it around, and I just think that dictated our tempo in tight spots."
A 6-foot middle hitter, Hoppe led Clearwater (4-5-2) with five aces and six kills to go along with a block. The junior came up big with a kill to tie it early in the second game, served up back-to-back aces to send the Tigers on their biggest run of the night and added a kill to close it out.
"We had a lot of communication and knew exactly what we needed to do," Hoppe said. "Everybody had each other's back tonight."
When Hoppe wasn't controlling the net and shifted to the back row, Brianna Lawson filled in with ease. The junior had an ace along with seven kills and a block to keep the Tigers' offense thriving.
"She's an excellent hitter and a nice presence to have up there," Ayers said. "And when Faith moves to the back, Brianna can do the same type of thing for us up front."
Brittany Adams served two more aces and added 11 assists, but more importantly, were Clearwater's serves that didn't end up as aces.
The Donettes (2-3) committed 12 serve-receive errors and couldn't get their offense in gear against Clearwater's powerful swings.
"We have aggressive servers, several of them, like Brittany Adams and Faith," Ayers said. "They can serve it short or real deep. I think that's what kept them from really getting anything going."
Savanah Aaron led Doniphan with five kills and a block, while Emily Ederer chipped in three kills.
The Tigers, who ended a three-year losing streak to the Donettes, jumped ahead 10-5 after Hoppe's second ace and forced a Doniphan timeout. Consecutive tips over the net from Elizabeth Gronski and Adams out of the break extended the lead to 12-5 before consecutive Clearwater errors.
There weren't many more as Hoppe, swinging from the middle, pounded a kill to send the Tigers on a 9-2 run, forcing another Doniphan timeout.
Amy Holmes served her lone ace of the match during that stretch while Lawson and Gronski added a kill apiece.
The Donettes hit three balls into the net and two more ended up long as they fell further behind. Out of the break, Doniphan committed three straight errors before Rachel Rowold's kill set up game point.
Emily Ederer came up with a kill -- Doniphan's first since 5-3 -- before Hoppe finished it off with a block.
Doniphan led by as many as two points to open the second set, but with six ties and four lead changes through the first 16 points, neither team could find separation.
A block and kill from Hoppe gave Clearwater a 10-9 lead but she followed with an error to tie it again before Savanah Aaron's first kill of the set gave the Donettes their final lead.
Hoppe's most emphatic aces followed as the Tigers took control.
"I've worked really hard on my serves and I've finally gotten them to where I want them," Hoppe said. "After those two I could feel the momentum swinging, our whole team could."
Doniphan hit the next two balls out of bounds but stayed close thanks to two Clearwater hits in the net to make it 16-14. Another Doniphan error followed by a kill from Rowold and Adams' two kills pushed Clearwater's lead to 20-14 and forced Doniphan to burn its final timeout.
"We got a big boost coming off some strong play in the SEMO Tournament and here tonight," Ayers said. "Now we've just got to keep going."