MIDDLETOWN >> They may not be the flashiest team around, but the Kelseyville Knights find a way to get the job done.
Kelseyville improved to 6-0 in North Central League I varsity volleyball play on Thursday night with a 25-19, 25-17, 25-18 road win against the Middletown Mustangs. The win keeps the Knights atop the league standings with St. Helena (5-1) and Clear Lake (4-1) close behind. Kelseyville hosts Clear Lake on Tuesday.
While the Knights won in the minimum three sets, there was nothing easy about the match, according to Kelseyville coach Donelle McCallister.
“Middletown has a solid team … solid,” McCallister said. “Both teams were playing point for point.”
“We just made a few more errors than they did,” added Middletown coach Jennifer Breiner. “We missed five straight serves in the second game.”
Middletown’s layoff because of the Valley Fire last month hasn’t helped the team in terms of its consistency, according to Breiner, who said the Mustangs lost several practices.
“We play well in spurts but we can stay up,” Breiner said. “We’re not as consistent as we need to be.”
The Mustangs still made the league-leading Knights work hard, according to McCallister.
“We were behind a couple of times,” she said. “Our serving wasn’t bad but we had a couple of critical errors on serves.”
Riley Goff, Kelseyville’s returning All-League setter, led the way with 25 assists and four aces. Up front, Carli Mendonca pounded away for 11 kills while Heidy Cano added 10.
For Middletown, now 2-2 in league play, Abby Aden led the team with seven kills while Emily Lescher, Jess DeSilva and Tana Bouscal each had four. Bouscal added two blocks while Lescher had a pair of aces.
Breiner also praised the play of Meghan Carlisle.
Kelseyville also won the junior varsity match 29-27, 25-11. Kelseyville leaders were Serina Vargas with six assists, Megan Mills with 10 digs and five aces, Tristan Beck with five digs and three kills, Kaleigh Nunn with seven assists, and Grace Duty with four digs, three aces and three kills.
Kelseyville travels to the Mare Island Tourney on Saturday before resuming league play Tuesday at home against Clear Lake.
