LAKEPORT — It really doesn”t seem to matter who coaches the Kelseyville Knights against the Clear Lake Cardinals when the sport is volleyball.
Kelseyville continued its domination of the Cardinals on Tuesday night with a 25-16, 25-15, 25-20 victory in North Central League I interlock play at Clear Lake High School.
To say it wasn”t the Cardinals” finest hour would be something of an understatement, according to Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds, who said only a couple of her players distinguished themselves on the court — foreign exchange student Teresa Colliva, who had four kills and four blocks, and first-year volleyball player Kaila Sterbank, who had eight digs and eight service points.
“Our passing game is just down the tubes right now,” Psalmonds said. “We had 27 errors. It”s just not good right now.”
Jesse Sondag”s eight kills led the Cardinals, but the sophomore had nearly as many hitting errors, according to Psalmonds.
“Tomorrow will not be a happy day for them,” Psalmonds said of the Cardinals” Wednesday practice.
While the Cardinals” couldn”t find their passing game, first-year Kelseyville coach Donelle McCallister said the Knights turned in one of their best passing performances of the young season.
“The passing was unbelievable tonight ? finally,” McCallister said.
Annie Macias was among Kelseyville”s standouts with 13 service points, one ace, four kills and eight digs.
“Just consistent play,” McCallister said of Macias.
Other standouts for the Knights were Kaitlyn Goff with five kills, eight digs, 10 points and two aces, and Kendra Schewegerl, who moved into the starting lineup and did a solid job, according to McCallister.
“She really worked hard for me,” McCallister said.
McCallister is the third Kelseyville coach in as many seasons. Larry Bresso retired after the 2006 season and Deanna Goff directed the team last year.
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
Middletown def. St. Vincent
At Middletown, after spotting St. Vincent the first game, the Middletown Mustangs came galloping back to win the NCL I interlock match 19-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-7.
“We made a lot of errors in that first game, I was concerned,” Middletown coach Jennifer Breiner said. “But we stopped making stupid mistakes after that and we finally started working it.”
Kayla Wood”s double-double of 14 kills and 12 aces powered the Mustangs. Kelsey Guzman added 11 kills, Jessica Boylan had four and Jen Emberson added four aces.
“They worked their butts off to win those last three games,” Breiner said of her players. “They didn”t slow down after the first game.”
St. Helena def. Lower Lake
At St. Helena, the St. Helena Saints won a five-set marathon, rallying to beat the Lower Lake Trojans 20-25, 25-12, 24-26, 25-21, 15-6 in NCL I interlock action.
Renita Gilliam”s six kills, six blocks and nine digs sparked Lower Lake.
“Probably the best game I”ve seen her play,” Lower Lake coach Danessa Udy said.
Tashee Denson and Darlena White each had six kills. White added five aces.
“Overall we played well as a team,” Udy said, “but we just couldn”t pull out any tough points, we fell apart.”
Girls” soccer
Middletown 2, Clear Lake 0
At Lakeport, Brittany Cash scored goals in each half and the Middletown Mustangs improved to 6-1 by shutting out the Clear Lake Cardinals in NCL I interlock girls” soccer action.
“We didn”t play well,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said of the Cardinals” first loss to a Class A team this season. “They (Mustangs) are a very physical team and they were allowed to play physical.”
Clear Lake (6-3-1) had 13 shots on goal to Middletown”s six, but the Cardinals couldn”t convert.
“It”s our 10th game and we have 13 more to play, so it”s not like this is the end of the world,” Larrea said. “We saw some things that we need to adjust. We”ll definitely use this as an opportunity to grow and learn.”
“I felt like the girls played tough and we took it to them,” Middletown coach Louise Owens said of her team”s win. “They”ve been the top team in the county for a long time and I felt like we played right with them, more so than in past years. It tells us that our program is moving forward.”
Emily Beckwith, Kaitlin August and Amber Preusser were among Middletown”s standouts on defense, according to Owens.
“We moved Preusser back to defense and she did a tremendous job,” Owens said.
The Mustangs also received a strong effort from Missy Denno, who is replacing injured starter Shelby Davis at left midfield, according to Owens.
“Missy did a phenomenal job filling in,” Owens said.
Kelseyville 2, Upper Lake 1
At Kelseyville, Cassie Sutton”s offense and defense helped the Kelseyville Knights rally past the Upper Lake Cougars 2-1 in NCL I interlock action.
Yessica Ayala scored early in the first half to give Upper Lake (2-3) a 1-0 lead, but the Cougars” star forward found the going a bit tougher the rest of the way, according to Kelseyville coach Mark Andre.
“Sutton slowed Yessica way down,” Andre said. “She decided she was not going to let her score again.”
Sutton, a midfielder, then scored a goal of her own to knot the game at 1-1.
“She had a good game,” Andre said.
Sam Ledesma”s goal right before halftime put the Knights (2-3), winners of two straight, ahead to stay.
“Monique Santana had a great game for us passing the ball up to the forwards for shot after shot,” Andre said. “She had a great game controlling the middle.”
Another standout for Kelseyville on defense was Amanda Santana, according to Andre.
“She really shut them down,” Andre said.
For the Cougars, keeper Amanda Wright and defender Laura Wold, filling in for injured starter Jessica Swaney, helped keep Upper Lake close throughout the game.
“Amanda made a couple of stupendous saves, she was awesome,” Upper Lake coach Ana Santana said. “And Laura was outstanding on defense today.”
Cloverdale 7, Lower Lake 1
At Lower Lake, Emmalena Illia smacked in a shot from 30 yards out in the second half as the Lower Lake Trojans avoided the shutout against the Cloverdale Eagles.
“It was quite a shot,” Lower Lake coach Daniel Wieman said. “It went over the keeper”s (outstretched) hands.”
Lower Lake moved Katreena Galindo into goal and Wieman said he was impressed by her effort.
“She had at least 10 saves,” Wieman said. “She played an amazing game and she”s probably going to be my keeper from now on.”
Boys” soccer
Kelseyville 10, Upper Lake 2
At Kelseyville, Osvaldo Martinez scored three times and also had an assist and five other Kelseyville players also scored as the Knights rolled past Upper Lake in NCL I interlock varsity boys” soccer action.
Upper Lake accidently scored two goals for Kelseyville while remaining winless on the season.
Kelseyville improved to 4-1 and the lopsided nature of the game — the Knights led 4-1 after the first half — allowed head coach Eduardo Ledesma to empty his bench in the second half.
“I played my starters for the first half,” Ledesma said, “but my bench played roughly 30 (of 40) minutes in the second half. The whole bench played.”
The Knights are home Thursday to play Cloverdale.
