LAKEPORT — The Clear Lake Cardinals won the first game and gave Middletown all it could handle in game two before the Mustangs battled back for a 18-25, 27-25, 25-17, 25-8 North Central League I varsity volleyball victory on Thursday night in Lakeport.
The win keeps Middletown (5-1) atop the league standings along with Kelseyville and St. Helena.
Clear Lake (3-3) started two sophomores and two freshmen, having promoted freshman Jasmin Rice to the varsity before the match.
“I saw a lot of great things tonight,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said. “They”re young, but they”re only going to get better.”
Aliza Atkins led the Cardinals with 16 kills, three blocks and eight digs. Rachel Wingler added seven kills and Rice logged the first varsity kill of her career along with 10 digs, two aces and a block.
Thirteen missed serves hurt the Cardinals, according to Psalmonds.
Brianna Oritz had a big match for the Mustangs with 13 kills, 15 digs and five aces. Sophomore Emily Lescher, who was filling in for injured starter Renee Edwards, added five kills and two blocks.
“Emily stepped up and did a great job,” Middletown coach Jennifer Breiner said.
Heather Huston had four kills, three aces and eight digs for Middletown.
Middletown won the junior varsity match 26-24, 13-25, 15-12. Terra Morin had 14 kills.
In other volleyball action Thursday:
Kelseyville def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, the Kelseyville Knights (5-1) won their fifth straight NCL I match, beating the Lower Lake Trojans 25-11, 25-19, 25-16.
Jeannie Johnson”s 18 kills and four blocks powered the Knights. Riley Goff added 17 assists.
Zobee Miller”s seven kills led the Trojans (1-5) and Brooke Taliaferro added four kills.
Calistoga def. Upper Lake
At Upper Lake, Calistoga lost the first two games but rallied to beat the Upper Lake Cougars 20-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 15-9 in NCL II action.
Skylar Orozco led the Cougars with 11 kills, Sierra Fugate added nine, Joleca Augustine had eight and LaShaye Taylor six.
Girls” soccer
Kelseyville 1, Fort Bragg 1 (tie)
At Kelseyville, Megan Touros” first-half goal stood up for Kelseyville until midway through the second half when Fort Bragg scored to tie the game.
The Knights (2-7-1, 2-7-1) missed a potential game-winning penalty kick with six minutes remaining and had to settle for a tie.
Kelseyville out-shot Fort Bragg 20-14.
Clear Lake 9, Lower Lake 0
At Lower Lake, the Clear Lake Cardinals improved to 7-3 in league play and 10-6 overall by shutting out the Lower Lake Trojans (0-10, 1-10). It was Clear Lake”s seventh shutout victory of the season.
Hannah Norwood led the Cardinals with three goals and two assists while Kelcie Reynolds had two goals and two assists. Even Heather Werner, who usually plays at keeper, picked up a goal, the first of her high school career.
“We played everybody at a lot of different positions,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said. “We played together as a team and played well.”
Even worse for the Trojans, their top player, forward Gabby Jauregui, sustained an ankle injury and may be lost for the season.
Rosalinda Cuevas and Martha Montanez turned in strong efforts for Lower Lake, according to coach Robynn Giese.
Middletown 6, St. Helena 0
At St. Helena, Hannah Diaz scored a hat trick and also had two assists as the Middletown Mustangs shut down and shut out the St. Helena Saints, improving to 9-1 in league and 12-2 overall in the process.
Ashlyn Welton, in her second game back from an injury that sidelined the sophomore for most of Middletown”s league schedule, played three-quarters of the game and contributed an assist.
“She did fantastic,” Middletown coach Louise Owens said. “It”s very nice having her back.”
Kaleigh Alves scored twice for the Mustangs and Rosie Emerson had the other Middletown goal. Ashley Hart had an assist.
Boys” soccer
Fort Bragg 1, Kelseyville 0
At Kelseyville, Fort Bragg scored with 10 minutes remaining to beat the Kelseyville Knights in a defensive struggle.
“We had some shots but couldn”t get them in,” Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma said. “We tried. The whole team did really good.”
The Knights (5-4-1, 6-6-1) had several standouts, according to Ledesma, among them Bryan Alvarez on defense and Cristian Macias in the midfield, but also Luis Rodriguez, Eduardo Casteallanos, Ricardo Covarrubias, Enrique Cacho, Cesar Medina and Elias Alvarez.
The winning shot just eluded keeper Jonathan Villarreal, who jumped for the ball but couldn”t quite reach it.
Lower Lake 4, Clear Lake 1
At Lower Lake, David Fernandez, Ricardo Manriquez, Efrain Santana and Jose Galvan scored a goal apiece in Lower Lake”s victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals.
Lower Lake (4-4-2, 5-7-2) took a 2-0 lead on goals by Fernandez and Manriquez in the first half, but Clear Lake closed to 2-1 before the half on a shot by Luis Muniz with an assist from Esteban Sturr.
Santana”s goal early in the second half made it 3-1 and the Trojans added an insurance goal later in the half on a Manriquez corner kick that Galvan headed into the net.
Ruiz had two assists for the Trojans.
St. Helena 3, Middletown 1
At St. Helena, the St. Helena Saints did all of their scoring in the first half en route to a victory over the Middletown Mustangs.
“We played a decent game,” Middletown coach Chuck Rannells said. “We played a better second half.”
Jorge Morales scored in the second half for Middletown (2-8, 4-10) with an assist from Bruce Arrieta, who anchored the Middletown defense.
