LAKEPORT — Aliza Atkins blasted away at the Fort Bragg Timberwolves, notching 11 kills for Clear Lake in the Cardinals” 25-23, 25-16, 25-21 win in North Central League I varsity volleyball action Tuesday in Lakeport.
It was the league opener for both squads.
“Best game I”ve seen her play,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said of Atkins. “She was on top of it. I was really impressed with Aliza tonight.”
Anna Westin added six kills and two blocks and Rachel Wingler also had six kills.
“Our offense really got going,” Psalmonds said. “It was nice to see us hit the ball so well.”
Morgan Psalmonds, the Cardinals” setter, recorded 26 assists and seven digs.
Fort Bragg won the junior varsity match 25-17, 20-25, 15-8 despite three kills and two blocks from Clear Lake sophomore middle hitter Joleca Augustine.
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
Kelseyville def. Willits
At Willits, Jennifer Green had 15 kills on only 25 arm swings as the Kelseyville Knights beat the Willits Wolverines in the league opener for both teams.
“She had a hell of a night,” Kelseyville coach Donelle McCallister said of Green, who had only three hitting errors. “She had a real positive night.”
Green also had eight digs and four aces.
Other Kelseyville leaders were setter Bonnie McCallister with 31 assists and three kills, and Jeanne Johnson and Abby McQueen with five kills apiece.
The Knights tuned up for the league opener with a solid performance on Saturday at the Mare Island Tournament in Vallejo. They beat Rancho Cotate and Burton in pool play before losing to powerhouse Casa Grande 25-18, 25-22. In the first round of the gold bracket playoffs, Kelseyville fell to Rocklin.
Middletown def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, Middletown and Lower Lake waged a long and hard struggle before the visiting Mustangs prevailed 25-14, 20-25, 25-23, 22-25, 15-12 in the NCL I opener for both teams.
“It was so intense,” Lower Lake first-year coach Niki Doud said. “We came out slow and jittery in the first game, but after that you could tell they wanted it,” Doud added of her players.
The fifth and deciding game seesawed back and forth before the Mustangs (1-0) pulled out the victory.
Adrina Miller had a monster match for the Trojans (0-1) with 15 kills and 14 blocks. Camry Richardson added four kills and nine assists in Lower Lake”s two-setter offense while Amanda Graf had four aces and two kills. Shelby Harris chipped in with three aces.
For Middletown, Bri Ortiz registered 18 kills along with two aces, Aly Mino added 12 kills and Sophie Marshall and Nika Gibbs had six kills apiece. Renee Edwards contributed another four kills as well as a team-high five aces.
Middletown missed 24 serves in the match but managed to hang on for the victory.
“We definitely pulled it together at the end,” Middletown coach Jennifer Breiner said.
RVC def. Upper Lake
At Upper Lake, Hannah Andrews, the MVP on last season”s All-NCL II volleyball team, registered 25 kills in the Eagles” 25-10, 25-11, 25-10 win over the Upper Lake Cougars.
It was the NCL II opener for both teams.
Not that the Eagles needed a lot of help, but the Cougars (0-1) obliged with 14 service errors and numerous serve receive mistakes.
“On a positive note the girls stepped up their passing,” Upper Lake coach Sandy Coatney said. “They played pretty hard, fought the whole night.”
Jamie Maddock”s 14 digs led Upper Lake.
Boys” soccer
Cloverdale 5, K”ville 4
At Cloverdale, the Kelseyville Knights had a seemingly safe 4-2 lead with 10 minutes to play before the Cloverdale Eagles rallied to win the NCL I game.
“We were controlling the game,” Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma said.
Cloverdale closed to 4-3 on a penalty kick before tallying two more goals to win it.
“They put on the pressure,” Ledesma said. “I think we just got a little too confident.”
Kelseyville fell to 1-2 in league and 2-4 overall.
Luis Rodriguez, Elias Alvarez, Enrique Cacho and Cristian Macias scored for the Knights.
Lower Lake 3, St. Helena 3 (tie)
At St. Helena, trailing 2-0 after one half and 3-1 with 12 minutes remaining, the Lower Lake Trojans battled back to tie the St. Helena Saints in a NCL I barnburner.
“It was a dogfight,” Lower Lake coach Dan Griffin said. “The guys are really happy about it after being down 3-1.”
The combination of Javier Alcazar and Luis Ruiz figured in all of Lower Lake”s scoring. Alcazar assisted on a Ruiz goal to cut St. Helena”s lead to 2-1, and Ruiz returned the favor with an assist that set up an Alcazar goal to make it 3-2.
With three minutes remaining, a Ruiz pass caught Alcazar in stride as he headed it into the net to knot the score.
Both teams had an opportunity to win the game in the closing stages. Lower Lake just missed taking the lead when an Orlando Ruiz kick barely missed wide right.
Fort Bragg 5, Middletown 1
At Middletown, the Middletown Mustangs kept it close until the final five minutes while falling to Fort Bragg in NCL I play.
Middletown (0-3, 0-5) cut Fort Bragg”s lead to 2-1 late in the first half on an Eric Lopez goal that was assisted by Brandon Rannells. The Timberwolves picked up a goal right before the end of the half to make it 3-1, and that”s the way score remained until the final five minutes of the game.
“They got two goals with five minutes left,” Middletown coach Chuck Rannells said. “I think it was fatigue. We played excellent soccer for 75 of the 80 minutes.”
Two standouts on defense for the Mustangs were Joseph Dixon and Bruce Arrieta, who came off the bench to bolster Middletown”s defensive line.
“They both did a nice job,” Rannells said.
Girls” soccer
Clear Lake 5, Willits 0
At Willits, Kristy Hayes tallied two more goals and the Clear Lake Cardinals posted their second shutout in a row, this time against the Willits Wolverines in NCL I action.
Clear Lake (2-1, 7-5-2) has outscored the opposition 13-0 in its last two games. The shutout was its sixth of the season.
“We”re really playing pretty well,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said. “We”re getting more shots. We”re just starting to find our rhythm.”
Kelcie Reynolds, Madison Wynacht and Mina Werner also had goals for the Cardinals. Hannah Norwood had the team”s lone assist.
The play of Reynolds, Emily Norwood and Nadine Bradley in the midfield helped the Cardinals shut down the Wolverines, according to Larrea.
“We controlled the middle of the field. If you do that, you”re going to do well,” Larrea said.
Results of girls” soccer games between Middletown-Fort Bragg, Kelseyville-Cloverdale and St. Helena-Lower Lake were not reported to the Record-Bee before its 10 p.m. editorial deadline.
