ARCATA — Finishing strong after a slow start, the Clear Lake High School varsity volleyball team advanced out of pool play and beat a pool winner in the playoff round before being eliminated at the Arcata Tournament on Saturday. The 12-team field was split between Arcata and McKinleyville high schools.
“We had a tough bracket,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said of the Cardinals” pairing with Arcata, Eureka and Brookings of Oregon in one of the three four-team pools. “We didn”t play very well in the morning, but we played pretty well in our last three matches,” Psalmonds said.
Clear Lake opened pool play with a 27-26, 25-22 victory over Arcata (the tournament had a 27-point cap on games). Eureka then beat the Cardinals 25-22, 21-25, 15-6. Despite a 25-15, 25-15 loss to powerhouse Brookings in the final round of pool play, Clear Lake advanced to the playoff round and beat another pool winner, Fortuna, 25-16, 23-25, 15-11.
“They weren”t too happy about that,” Psalmonds said of the Huskies.
Eureka knocked the Cardinals out of the playoff round by rallying for a 16-25, 25-20 15-11 win.
Brookings went on to beat Eureka in the championship match.
“I”m just glad they ended well ? I wasn”t too happy in the morning,” Psamonds said.
Standouts for the Cardinals were Vanessa Tullos with 42 digs and 32 kills, Hannah Hoffeditz with 41 digs, and Riley Gabehart with 25 kills and 11 blocks.
Clear Lake is home Thursday to play Roseland Prep of Santa Rosa.
