MIDDLETOWN — Minus one of their top hitters up front, the Kelseyville Knights completed a perfect run through the North Central League I North varsity volleyball standings on Thursday night with a 25-13, 25-22, 25-14 victory over the Middletown Mustangs at Middletown.
It was the league and regular-season finale for both teams.
Kelseyville (31-5), a 30-game winner for the second season in a row, will find out on Sunday who it will be facing next week in the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs. If the Knights are among the top four seeds in the playoff field, they will receive a first-round bye on Tuesday and host a quarterfinal match on Wednesday, which is what head coach Larry Bresso is counting on.
“I”m very optimistic about getting a top-four seed,” Bresso said.
Getting an extra day off might not seem like a big deal, but for the ailing Knights, it couldn”t hurt. Senior Katie King missed Thursday”s match with a shoulder injury and senior Amy Dawson aggravated an existing knee injury.
“She played sparingly,” Bresso said of Dawson, who had three kills.
“I was thinking about holding a practice Saturday, but that”s not going to happen,” Bresso said. “The longer we can take to get healthy the better we”ll be.”
In completing league play with an 8-0 mark for the second year in a row, the Knights scored another three-game sweep as the Mustangs (2-6) put up a fight only in the second game.
“We did not play inspired tonight,” Bresso said. “We had nine service errors and only four aces … one each by four different players.”
Even so, Bresso said it”s hard to find fault with his seniors, who have dropped only 14 matches in the last two seasons. They”ve also survived non-stop injuries throughout the 2006 campaign, including injuries to their top players.
“They”ve played a lot of volleyball in a lot of different positions and they”ve done a great job,” Bresso said of his starters and reserves. “It”s a credit to the kids.”
Standouts for Kelseyville against Middletown were setter Jill Bailey, who had five kills and six digs; Kaitlyn Goff with five kills and four digs; Casey Bowlin with three kills; Lauren Nixon with six digs; and Lauren Giusti with four digs.
Kayla Wood”s seven five kills, four blocks, seven digs and five assists paced Middletown. Julia Leathers added four blocks, two kills, seven digs, seven assists and three aces, and Nikeeda Davis had three kills.
“The seniors played well,” Middletown coach Dore Holt. “That”s the best we”ve played all season,” Holt added of the Mustangs” near miss in game two.
