LAKEPORT — There”s no need to adjust your TV set. That was indeed Marci Psalmonds sitting benchside Tuesday night as the Clear Lake Cardinals battled the Holy Names Monarchs in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division IV volleyball playoffs at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport.
Psalmonds, the longtime varsity head coach at Upper Lake who took over Clear Lake”s junior varsity program this season, was filling in for head coach David Laven, who was unable to attend the match for personal reasons.
Unfortunately for Laven, who announced at the beginning of this season that this would be his final year at Clear Lake, that end came with him absent Tuesday as the eighth-seeded Cardinals fell 25-17, 25-23, 25-6 to the ninth-seeded Monarchs.
Psalmonds will move up to the varsity ranks next season and said she is looking forward to the challenge.
“It was kind of nice to get back up to that intensity level,” Psalmonds said of her first varsity match since leaving Upper Lake at the end of the 2004 season.
Against Holy Names (13-7), the Cardinals struggled with their serve receive game most of the night, but especially in the first and third games.
“Their serving just killed us because we couldn”t get the ball up into the air,” Psalmonds said. “In the first game we had a little bit of jitters but in the second game we came out of it and hit the ball pretty well. We began to find the holes. In the third game we made a few errors and couldn”t come back.”
Savannah Harrison registered six kills, a block and six service points to lead Clear Lake. Shana Hiatt added three kills, three blocks and seven points while Priscilla Boyd had 10 service points. All three are seniors.
Holy Names moves on to play No. 1 seed St. Mary”s in the quarterfinals tonight at 7 p.m. at St. Mary”s High School in Berkeley. Both teams compete in the Bayshore Athletic League.
“They”re scrappy,” Psalmonds said of the Monarchs.
With a handful of varsity players coming back next season, Psalmonds is eager to get going.
“I”m looking forward to next year,” Psalmonds said.
Clear Lake, the North Central League I South co-champion this season, finishes the year at 17-11.
In another quarterfinal-round match tonight, the No. 2-seeded Kelseyville Knights (31-5) are home to take on Piedmont (15-11), another BSAL team, at 7 p.m. Like Laven, longtime Kelseyville head coach Larry Bresso is stepping down at the end of the season.
