LAKEPORT — It wasn”t the best effort by Clear Lake this season, but it was a win.
“They got the job done,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said after the Cardinals beat Middletown 25-19, 25-11, 26-24 in North Central League I varsity volleyball action Tuesday night at Lakeport.
“They (Mustangs) were a lot scrappier than when we played them in the (Kelseyville/Lower Lake) tournament,” Psalmonds said.
Clear Lake completes the first half of its league schedule at 6-1. Middletown is 1-6.
Vanessa Tullos had 10 kills and three aces to lead the Cardinals while Jessica Asbury contributed eight kills and an ace. Anna Westin had six kills and setter Morgan Psalmonds recorded 22 assists.
Aly Mino”s six kills led the Mustangs, who also received three kills each from Brooke Jackson and Nika Gibbs.
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
Lower Lake def. Kelseyville
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans defeated the Kelseyville Knights 25-22, 25-15, 25-19 in NCL I action.
Lower Lake (5-2) was led by Kelsie Shoffeitt”s seven kills. Adrina Miller added five kills and three blocks while Danacka Whittington had five kills.
Abby McQueen”s 11 kills paced the Knights (1-5) while Jennifer Green and Jeannie Johnson had seven kills apiece. Kyra Rudnick finished with four aces.
Upper Lake def. Calistoga
At Calistoga, Upper Lake improved to 2-1 in NCL II play with a 22-25, 25-9, 25-11, 25-10 victory over the Calistoga Wildcats.
“I have no explanation for the first game,” Upper Lake coach Sandy Coatney said of the Cougars” sluggish start.
Kat Edmonds pounded out 15 kills with only three hitting errors for Upper Lake, and Vanessa Hansen also had a big night with eight kills and four blocks. Kelsey Pearl led the team with six aces.
Girls” soccer
Middletown 3, Willits 2
At Willits, Kylie Agapoff scored midway through the second half to snap a 2-2 tie as the Mustangs rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Willits Wolverines in NCL I girls” soccer action.
Willits grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first half before Middletown fought its way back. Goals by Emily Reed and Hannah Diaz knotted the score at 2 by halftime.
“We were very flat, sluggish and without that intensity you need,” Middletown coach Lee Hoage said.
Middletown improved to 8-1 in league play and 12-2 overall.
Standouts for the Mustangs were Diaz, Karina Vargas and Maria Castaldo, according to Hoage.
“Willits was very physical, very scrappy,” Hoage added.
Clear Lake 4, Cloverdale 2
At Lakeport, Kristy Hayes scored both of her goals in the final minutes to snap a 2-2 tie and lift the first-place Clear Lake Cardinals to a win over the visiting Cloverdale Eagles, who tied Clear Lake 4-4 on Sept. 15 in Cloverdale.
Clear Lake (7-0-1, 13-2-2) outscored Cloverdale 3-1 in the second half.
“We looked much better in the second half than the first half,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said. “We hadn”t played since last Tuesday against Middletown and we didn”t quite get into our offensive rhythm until the second half. Defensively we did a good job.”
Amely Ballesteros shut down Cloverdale”s top player, Amy Mora, who scored twice in the Sept. 15 game at Cloverdale.
“She didn”t have a shot today,” Larrea said of Mora.
Chelo Lundquist-Krag and Hannah Norwood also played well on defense, according to Larrea.
Nadine Bradley scored in the first half for Clear Lake to make it a 1-1 game. Telia Paskaly”s goal in the second half gave the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.
St. Helena 10, Kelseyville 0
At Kelseyville, St. Helena scored five times in each half and blanked the Kelseyville Knights in NCL I action.
“They”re a good team, they have a lot of depth,” Kelseyville coach Cheryl Mostin said of the Saints. “They”ve got some good passing going on.”
Boys” soccer
Middletown 2, Willits 2 (tie)
At Middletown, Jesus Garcia tapped in teammate Shawn Fromer”s corner kick to earn the Middletown Mustangs a tie with the Willits Wolverines in NCL I boys” soccer play.
Garcia”s goal came in the final seconds.
“They called the match like 20 seconds later,” Middletown coach Chuck Rannells said.
All the scoring came in the second half. After Willits went up 1-0, Middletown tied it on Raphael Roy-Labelle”s goal. It remained a 1-1 game until the Wolverines scored without about two minutes remaining.
“They were determined not to lose,” Rannells said of his players. “They showed fire. This is what I”ve been looking for all year.”
Cloverdale 6, Clear Lake 0
At Lakeport, suiting up only 13 players, the Clear Lake Cardinals were shut out by the Cloverdale Eagles in NCL I action.
“They did their best,” Clear Lake coach Luis Martinez said of his depleted squad. “Everybody played their best.”
Clear Lake standouts were left-defender Joey Blair and midfielder Luis Arias.
Kelseyville 2, St. Helena 2 (tie)
At Kelseyville, St. Helena scored twice in the second half to pull out a 2-2 tie with the Kelseyville Knights in a physical NCL I battle.
“It was a rough game,” Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma said.
One St. Helena player received a red card.
Oscar Martinez and Adrian Mejia scored in the first half to give the Knights a 2-0 lead by halftime.
“We played really well in the first half,” Ledesma said. “I think we just got tired in the second half.”
Kelseyville is 6-2-1 in league and 8-4-1 overall.
