Clear Lake lost its District 18-6A volleyball opener in five sets Tuesday, Sept. 8, falling to Dickinson 25-23, 16-25, 26-24, 20-25, 15-11 at Krueger Field House.

The Falcons (20-9) won two sets and held big leads in others but could not close out the match. Clear Lake led 23-21 in the first set before Dickinson rallied to tie it at 23 and scored the final two points, with Rebecca Ajong finishing it off with a kill.

The third set was the most painful sequence for Clear Lake. The Falcons built a commanding 15-6 lead, only to watch Dickinson fight back to tie it at 17. Two more ties followed, the last at 22, with two lead changes mixed in. Clear Lake reached set point at 24-22. Dickinson refused to fold, tying it at 24 and scoring the next two points to steal the set 26-24 and take a 2-1 match lead.

Head coach CiCi Anderson's squad responded in the fourth set. From an 18-18 tie, Clear Lake scored four straight points to seize control and won 25-20. But in the deciding fifth set, the match was knotted at nine before Dickinson rattled off four consecutive points and pulled away for the 15-11 win.

Landy Youngdahl paced the Falcons with 12 kills. Abi Vogelmeier and Morgan Regner each added 11. Natalia Tibbetts ran the offense with 42 assists. Natalie Herlambang anchored the back row with 30 digs, and Regner contributed 20 digs, three blocks and a team-high four aces. Charley Powell led Clear Lake with four blocks.

Dickinson's Ajong powered the Lady Gators with a match-high 27 kills, The Galveston County Daily News reported. Bailey Whitten added 16 kills for Dickinson (20-7).

"She's one of my best friends, but we like to compete," Dickinson head coach Kati Farias said of Anderson after Tuesday's match. The two played together at Dickinson and were teammates on the Lady Gators' 2001 state semifinal team that lost to eventual state champion Hereford. Farias is in her 10th year leading Dickinson.

The coaching rivalry carried over from last season, when the teams split their district meetings. Clear Lake edged Dickinson for the fourth and final playoff spot by two match victories a year ago. Dickinson finished fifth and missed the postseason.

The Falcons travel to Deer Park on Friday, Sept. 11, to continue district play.