LOWER LAKE — Willits scored the final five points in game five to cap a marathon 11-25, 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 15-10 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans in a North Central League I North varsity volleyball battle for first place on Tuesday night in Lower Lake.
Veronica Wilder got the Trojans (2-1) even at the service line, 10-10, late in game five, but the Wolverines rallied to win the final five points and the match.
“Our serve receive just killed us,” Lower Lake coach Danessa Udy said of the final game. “They were getting like four points at a time and when you only have to go to 15, it adds up quick. That is a team we needed to beat for sure.”
Willits improved to 2-0 in the North standings while Lower Lake slipped to 2-1. The two teams meet again Oct. 28 at Willits.
“They really get a crowd into that gym,” Udy said of what most likely will be a must-win for the Trojans later this month at Willits.
Kelsie Shoffeitt led the Trojans on Tuesday with nine kills and also had three blocks. Other leaders were Wilder and Amber Daniels, each with seven kills, April White with five kills and five blocks, and Danacka Whittington with five kills.
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
Clear Lake def. Upper Lake
At Lakeport, even with their top player out of action with a knee injury, the Clear Lake Cardinals beat the Upper Lake Cougars 25-18, 25-20, 23-25, 26-24 in NCL I South action.
Vanessa Tullos aggravated an old injury Monday in practice, Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said.
“She just came down wrong on it (her knee),” Psalmonds said. “She could be out for up to two weeks.”
Minus Tullos, Psalmonds changed up her lineup and the results were nothing short of fantastic.
“It was so nice to see the whole team step it up,” Psalmonds said.
Jessica Asbury and setter Morgan Psalmonds led the way for the Cardinals, now 2-1 in the South standings. Asbury pounded out a season-best 21 kills and Psalmonds had 37 assists.
“Morgan kept feeding her (Asbury) the ball and she kept pounding it,” Psalmonds said.
Haley Garzoli moved from libero to hitter and recorded six kills as well as 20 service points. Rebecca Baker added eight kills and Coree Alexander had 11 digs.
For Upper Lake, Katherine Edmonds led the way with nine kills and eight blocks and Crystal Mendoza had five kills.
“For the most part, we could not hit the ball hard tonight,” Upper Lake coach Sandy Coatney said. “Against a good defense like Marci”s, if you don”t put it down hard it”s tough to beat them.”
Kelseyville def. Middletown
At Kelseyville, senior team captain Ariel Facey led the Kelseyville Knights to their first NCL I North win, a 20-25, 25-13, 25-23, 25-23 win over the Middletown Mustangs.
“Ariel brought leadership back and she did well at the line,” Kelseyville coach Donelle McCallister said.
Facey had four kills to go along with her team-best four aces.
Jennifer Green led the Knights with 16 kills on 37 arm swings and also had two blocks. Kyra Rudnick added 10 digs and Alex Pruett had four kills.
Girls” soccer
Clear Lake 14, Lower Lake 0
At Lakeport, Kristy Hayes, Briana Dutcher, Emily Norwood and Savannah DeKeyser scored two goals apiece as the Clear Lake Cardinals knocked off the Lower Lake Trojans in NCL I interlock play.
“We moved everybody around and still played good soccer,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said. “I was really pleased.”
The Cardinals made wholesale substitutions 15 minutes into the game but still led 11-0 after one half.
“Norwood played well tonight,” Larrea said. “We played her all over.”
St. Helena 10, Upper Lake 0
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars played the entire game two players down and lost to the St. Helena Saints in NCL I South action.
Injuries and a disagreement between Upper Lake coach Mike Sheets and a handful of his seniors led to the Cougars (0-4, 2-7-1) being short-handed for the game.
“We had a difference of opinion,” Sheets said of a player walkout that occurred at Monday”s practice.
Tanisha Phillips made her first start at keeper and had 11 saves for the Cougars.
“We did pretty good considering we had only nine players the entire game,” Sheets said.
St. Helena scored five goals in each half. The Saints voluntarily played the Cougars nine-on-nine the final 15 minutes of the game.
Boys” soccer
Fort Bragg 3, Kelseyville 1
At Kelseyville, Oscar Martinez gave Kelseyville the early lead, but the Fort Bragg Timberwolves rallied to beat the Knights in NCL I action.
“We had scoring opportunities ? a few ? we just didn”t make them,” Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma said. “They (Timberwolves) are a good team.”
Fort Bragg rallied to take a 2-1 lead by halftime.
Willits 10, Middletown 0
At Middletown, the inability to learn from their mistakes is hurting the Middletown Mustangs in a big way these days. On Tuesday, they managed just one shot on goal while being shutout by Willits.
“We had one shot on goal and no corner kicks, that”s how bad it was,” Middletown coach Chuck Rannells said.
Willits took only 15 shots but scored 10 times.
“A lot of things went wrong,” Rannells said. “All of our problems are continuing to happen even though we address them every single day in practice.”
One such problem is heading the ball ? the Mustangs are reluctant to do it in games even though they spend time doing just that in practice, according to Rannells.
“It”s frustrating,” he said.
