MIDDLETOWN — Kayla Robinson”s nine kills, three blocks and one ace led the Middletown Mustangs to a 25-16, 25-17, 25-19 victory over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in a North Central League I North varsity volleyball match on Thursday in Middletown.
It was the North opener for Middletown (1-0). Fort Bragg fell to 0-2.
“They”re finally getting into their hitting groove and serving groove,” Middletown coach Jennifer Breiner said of the Mustangs. “They”re fine-tuning stuff.”
With the North race upon them, the Mustangs need to “step it up” if they want to keep pace with Willits, Kelseyville and Lower Lake, according to Breiner.
“It should be a good league,” Breiner said.
Jenny McGee had five kills, two blocks and three aces for Middletown and Haley Tallman returned from an injury to log three aces in limited playing time.
In other volleyball action Thursday:
St. Vincent def. Clear Lake
At Lakeport, St. Vincent moved atop the NCL I South standings with a 25-13, 28-26, 21-25, 25-21 victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals.
St. Vincent improved to 2-0 while Clear Lake fell to 1-1.
Riley Gabehart”s 10 kills, nine digs and one block led the Cardinals, who were without libero Hannah Hoffeditz (flu).
“She”s definitely the key to our defense and we needed her tonight,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said.
Vanessa Tullos had eight kills and seven digs for Clear Lake.
Girls” soccer
Cloverdale 3, Upper Lake 1
At Upper Lake, Yess-ica Ayala”s goal midway through the second half cut Cloverdale”s lead to 2-1, but that would be as close as the Upper Lake Cougars would get to the Eagles in NCL I South action.
Upper Lake (0-3, 6-5) trailed 1-0 after the first half. The Cougars started a new keeper, team captain Jaclyn Smith, and she registered five saves to keep her team in the game.
“First time in the goal box and she stops five shots,” Upper Lake coach Mike Sheets said. “That”s not bad for one day of practice.”
Annie Martinez, who sat out the first half for disciplinary reasons, returned to the keeper”s position in the second half and had eight saves.
After Ayala cut Cloverdale”s lead in half, it remained a 2-1 game until the final five minutes when the Eagles picked up an insurance goal.
The Cougars lost stopper Courtney Havrilla to a wrist injury in the first half.
“I don”t know if she sprained the heck out of it or broke it, but she was in some real pain,” Sheets said.
Middletown 7, Lower Lake 1
At Lower Lake, Mid-dletown outscored Lower Lake 5-0 in the first half and cruised past the Lower Lake Trojans to remain undefeated in NCL I North action.
Middletown is 3-0 in the North standings and 10-1 overall.
Lower Lake avoided a shutout when Jonesha Beasley scored in the second half with an assist from Mayra Nava.
Lower Lake keeper Katreena Galindo stopped a handful of shots in goal, including six in a row during one 90-second stretch.
“I can”t tell you how many shots she saved,” Lower Lake co-coach Nina Gibson said. “She is amazing.”
“We had her for 24 saves,” Middletown coach Louise Owens said. “And my girls put some good shots on her. She did a fantastic job.”
Freshmen and sophomores scored six of Middletown”s seven goals. Brittany Cash, a sophomore, had two goals. Kiley Agapoff had three assists.
“They (Trojans) look a lot better than they have (in past seasons),” Owens said.
Gibson said the young Trojans continue to improve.
“It”s definitely getting better,” Gibson said. “I feel good.”
St. Helena 3, Clear Lake 0
At St. Helena, the Clear Lake Cardinals completed the first half of their NCL I South schedule by losing to the St. Helena Saints.
Racked by the flu, the Cardinals had to call up three junior varsity players to fill out their ranks. One of those three, freshman Nadine Bradley, filled in at sweeper and did a solid job, according to Clear Lake co-coach Paul Larrea.
“We”re just not a very healthy team right now,” Larrea said. “Even the ones that are able to play are still sick. It”s been that way for a couple of weeks.”
St. Helena scored two goals in the opening minutes of the first half.
“We played very well from about 10 minutes on,” Larrea said.
Clear Lake out-shot St. Helena 18-10 but still couldn”t get the ball into the net.
Clear Lake is 1-2-1 in league and 6-8-2 overall.
Boys” soccer
Anderson Valley 7, Kelseyville 0
At Boonville, Ander-son Valley scored five first-half goals and cruised past the Kelseyville Knights in non-league action.
“They”re quick, well-organized,” Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma said of the Panthers. “They make quick passes.”
Kelseyville had just a handful of shots on goal.
“We got a few, that”s all,” Ledesma said.
Kelseyville is 6-3-1.
