LAKEPORT — With sole possession of first place in the North Central League I South volleyball standings up for grabs, the St. Helena Saints rallied to win the final two games and beat Clear Lake 22-25, 25-12, 18-25, 25-18, 15-13 on Tuesday night in Lakeport.
Clear Lake completes the first half of its South schedule at 3-1, one game behind the Saints (4-0). The same two teams meet again in St. Helena on Nov. 6, the final day of the regular season.
“It”s going to come down to that last game and it”s going to be our turn next time,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said.
Passing errors — 37 of them — proved to be too much for the Cardinals to overcome, according to Psalmonds, who described the match as “a roller-coaster ride.”
Jesse Sondag”s 22 kills and 10 service points led Clear Lake, Kaila Sterbank added six kills and nine points, and Katie Reynolds had 29 assists and 10 digs.
In other volleyball action Tuesday night:
Middletown def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, Middle-town dropped the first game but battled back for a 17-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-22 victory in NCL I North action. The victory keeps the Mustangs (3-1) one game behind idle Kelseyville (4-0) atop the league standings. Lower Lake slipped to 1-3.
Christine Powers served 10 points in a row, four of them aces, to lead Lower Lake in game one. After that, the Trojans struggled with their passing game, according to coach Danessa Udy.
Renita Gilliam”s nine kills and four blocks led the Trojans. Darlena White added five kills.
For Middletown, Kayla Wood led the way with 17 kills, six blocks and four aces. Kelsey Guzman added 11 kills and six blocks and Jessica Boylan had seven kills.
Upper Lake def. Cloverdale
At Upper Lake, in a back-and-forth NCL I South battle, the Upper Lake Cougars outlasted the Cloverdale Eagles 25-20, 24-26, 25-14, 19-25, 15-12.
Hannah Johnson had a big night at the service line with 16 aces in 31 total serves. She also had 14 digs and seven kills. She served 10 straight points in game three.
Other Upper Lake leaders were Christina Wagner with seven kills, Katy DeVries with seven kills and three blocks, Brandy Claunch with 27 assists and Thon Chao with 25 digs.
Upper Lake improved to 2-2 in the South standings.
Girls” soccer
Middletown 1, St. Helena 1 (tie)
At Middletown, St. Helena scored in the 75th minute to tie Middletown in NCL I interlock action.
The Mustangs (12-1-2) were nursing a 1-0 lead in the final minutes when Missy Denno went down with a calf cramp. A handful of Middletown players briefly hesitated as Denno hit the turf and St. Helena scored on the play.
“That”s our inexperience,” Middletown coach Louise Owens said. “We weren”t sure what to do there for a minute.”
Middletown beat St. Helena 2-0 earlier this month in St. Helena.
“It wasn”t a league game, so it doesn”t hurt us that bad,” Owens said. “But the girls are not happy with it.”
Emily Beckwith scored in the first half for Middletown with an assist from Natalie Diaz. Beckwith later left the game after taking a ball to the face
“She had a fat lip and a bloody nose,” Owens said.
The Mustangs also lost Kimmy Klewe to a turned ankle.
St. Vincent 9, Upper Lake 0
At Upper Lake, NCL I South leader St. Vincent remained undefeated in league play by beating Upper Lake, now 0-5 in the South standings.
“They”re really good players,” Upper Lake coach Ana Santana said of the Mustangs.
Standouts for Upper Lake were keeper Amanda Wright, who made 30 saves, and right-midfielder Courtney Havrilla.
“They were shooting bullets at her,” Santana said of Wright. “And Courtney just played a good, solid game.”
Clear Lake 2, Cloverdale 0
At Lakeport, Elena Tipton scored in the first half and Monique Liddiard scored in the second half as the Clear Lake Cardinals blanked the Cloverdale Eagles in NCL I South action.
Clear Lake improved to 3-1-1 in the South standings and 12-6-2 overall.
Kelseyville 1, Willits 0
At Willits, Monique San-tana”s breakaway goal in the first half held up as the Kelseyville Knights blanked the Willits Wolverines in NCL I North action.
The Knights (3-3 North, 5-7 overall) played a girl down most of the second half after a starter received a red card, according to Kelseyville coach Mark Andre.
“It was for something she said,” Andre said.
Santana and fellow forward Cassie Sutton kept pressure on the Willits defense throughout the game.
Marking back Stephanie Juarez anchored a strong effort by the Kelseyville defense, according to Andre.
“The whole defense played real well,” Andre said.
Boys” soccer
Kelseyville 3, Willits 2
At Kelseyville, Osvaldo Rojas scored early in the second half to snap a 2-2 and lift the Kelseyville Knights past Willits in NCL I North action.
Kelseyville improved to 3-3 in league and 7-4-1 with victory.
While Willits didn”t mount many scoring threats in the second half, they came close a couple of times, according to Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma.
“There were some scary ones,” Ledesma said.
The two teams traded goals in the first half, which ended in a 2-2 tie. Ivan Rodriguez and Eddie Ledesma scored Kelseyville”s first two goals. Ledesma”s came on a penalty kick.
Jesse Arroyo assisted on Rojas” game-winning goal.
“My defense is playing better,” Ledesma said.
Cristian Gomora and Wenceslao Rojas turned in strong performances, according to Ledesma.
Middletown 3, St. Helena 2
At St. Helena, with two starters out with injuries, including leading scorer Jason Candelario, the Middletown Mustangs avenged an earlier 4-2 loss to St. Helena with a 3-2 victory over the Saints in the final meeting between the two teams this season.
Middletown (7-9-1) scored all of its goals in the first half, the first two by Nick Reed and the final one by William Phelps with an assist from Myles Moffat. Nolan Tkachenko assisted on Reed”s second goal.
Middletown held the 3-0 lead until the last 15 minutes of the second half when St. Helena finally broke through with a pair of goals.
Keeper Tyler Madsen saved 21 shots.
“He played another phenomenal game,” Middletown coach Lee Hoage said of Madsen.
Clear Lake 3, Cloverdale 3 (tie)
At Lakeport, Ivan Sanchez”s penalty kick midway through the second half gave Clear Lake a 3-2 lead, but Cloverdale scored five minutes later to tie it in NCL I South action.
“For us to tie one of the top three teams (in the South), that”s great,” Clear Lake coach Brian Figg said.
Josh Espinoza scored in the first half for Clear Lake and Matt Stegman scored in the second half to tie it at 2-2.
Figg praised the play of freshman goalie Raymundo Gregorio, who made several hard saves.
“He saved several goals,” Figg said. “He made some fantastic saves.”
