KELSEYVILLE — Ashley Mueller logged a team-high seven kills to help the Kelseyville Knights sweep the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 25-16, 25-13, 25-14 in the North Central League I North varsity volleyball opener for both teams on Tuesday night in Kelseyville.
Although Mueller didn”t start, she rotated in and played the majority of the match at outside hitter for the Knights (1-0), according to coach Donelle McCallister.
Annie Macias and Maille McCallister each had three aces for the Knights, who reached the semifinals of the St. Vincent Tournament on Saturday in Petaluma before falling to eventual champion Middletown.
Chelsea DeJohn”s serve receive game was another strength for the Knights against Fort Bragg, according to McCallister.
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
Middletown def. Willits
At Willits, the Middletown Mustangs withstood an up-and-down performance to beat the Willits Wolverines 25-21, 25-15, 14-25, 25-22 in the NCL I North opener for both teams.
“Our passing wasn”t that great,” Middletown coach Jennifer Breiner said. “But we won.”
Middletown (1-0) received 20 kills, six blocks and four aces from Kayla Wood, nine kills and three aces from Jessica Boylan, 10 kills and two blocks from Kelsey Guzman, and 18 assists and one block from Sara Tucker.
St. Helena def. Upper Lake
At St. Helena, the Upper Lake Cougars fell 25-18, 25-23, 25-14 to the St. Helena Saints in the NCL I South opener for both squads.
“We had leads in the first two games, it was disappointing from a coach”s point of view,” Upper Lake coach Sandy Coatney said. “We couldn”t keep it together.”
Jackie Lovrin”s four kills and five digs led the Cougars (0-1). Hannah Johnson added two kills, five digs and six aces, and libero Thon Chao had 11 digs.
Clear Lake def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, “hitting ”em where they ain”t” applies in volleyball as well as baseball and that”s exactly what the Clear Lake Cardinals did in a 25-16, 25-14, 25-22 NCL I interlock victory over the Lower Lake Trojans.
“They did a good job finding the holes in our defense and hitting to our holes,” Lower Lake coach Danessa Udy said.
The Trojans also struggled with their serve receive and passing games, according to Udy.
“We”re a great hitting team, but we had a lot of trouble getting the ball to our setter,” Udy said.
Renita Gilliam”s six kills and seven blocks paced the Trojans and Darlena White added five kills.
Jesse Sondag led the Cardinals with 15 kills and 20 service points. Briana Butcher added 19 points while also impressing Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds with her passing.
“She passed just awesome,” Schaefer said.
Teresa Coliva added five kills and three blocks
Girls” soccer
Middletown 2, Fort Bragg 2 (tie)
At Middletown, the Middletown Mustangs spotted Fort Bragg a 2-0 lead but rallied for a 2-2 tie in NCL I North girls” soccer action.
Brittany Cash scored late in the first half to cut Fort Bragg”s lead to 2-1 and Kelsey Welton”s penalty kick in the second half tied the game.
“In the first half we were a little flat,” Middletown coach Louise Owens said. “In the second half we made a few adjustments and figured it out.”
One of those adjustments was moving Amber Preusser back to defense, according to Owens.
“We dominated the second half,” Owen said. “After being down 2-0, I”m proud of the girls for coming back. They never give up.”
Middletown and Fort Bragg are tied for the early North lead at 1-0-1. The Mustangs are 9-1-1 overall.
Kelseyville 3, Lower Lake 0
At Kelseyville, Amanda Horne, Cassie Sutton and Megan Andre all scored goals as the Kelseyville Knights blanked the Lower Lake Trojans in NCL I North action.
It was the second straight league win for Kelseyville, now 2-1 in the North standings and 4-5 overall.
Horne and Sutton scored in the first half for the Knights. Sutton”s shot was far from ordinary, according to Kelseyville coach Mark Andre.
“She was sliding and she pulled it with her foot from the side,” Andre said. “It was a real nice shot.”
Andre scored on a direct kick in the second half to make it 3-0.
Monique Santana”s play in the middle helped the Knights keep the ball in Lower Lake”s end of the field most of the game, according to Andre.
Boys” soccer
Kelseyville 6, Lower Lake 2
At Kelseyville, Oscar Martinez scored twice and Luis Macias had two assists as the Kelseyville Knights broke open a close game with four second-half goals and beat the Lower Lake Trojans in NCL I North boys” soccer action.
“We”re finally finding those goals,” Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma said. “Maybe our bad luck is gone.”
It was the first North win for Kelseyville (1-2) after back-to-back losses to Fort Bragg and Willits.
Kelseyville freshman keeper Cristian Gomora turned in a strong performance for the Knights as he blocked a penalty kick and a free kick.
“He also stopped a few others,” Ledesma said. “He was amazing today.”
Kelseyville is 5-3-1 overall.
St. Vincent 2, Clear Lake 1
At Petaluma, Matt Steg-man”s second-half goal was all the offense the Clear Lake Cardinals could muster in hard-fought NCL I South loss to the St. Vincent Mustangs.
“One goal is not going to do it,” Clear Lake coach Brian Figg said. “We played well, but we need a way to produce more offense.”
Diego Bernardino assisted Stegman on his goal.
Clear Lake is 0-2 in league and 2-10 overall. The Cardinals travel to Upper Lake on Thursday for a South game against the Cougars.
