MIDDLETOWN >> There’s just something about Middletown vs. Clear Lake in volleyball that seems to keep the officials away.
Two weeks after a match between the two teams in Lakeport had to be postponed because no officials showed up, a North Central League I match Wednesday evening in Middletown drew just one official instead of the usual two, leaving both coaches — Middletown’s Jennifer Breiner and Clear Lake’s Marci Psalmonds — wondering what the heck is going on.
“I’m just frustrated,” Breiner said. “A lot was missed,” Psalmonds added.
Clear Lake ended up winning 25-23, 25-21, 13-25, 30-28 to run its league mark to 8-3.
“It was back and forth,” Psalmonds said of the flow of the match and the performance of the Cardinals, who struggled at times.
“We were kind of up and down,” Psalmonds said. “Eloisa Morfin did a good job passing the ball for us or it would have been ugly.”
Rachel Wingler led the Cardinals with 20 kills and tied Valerie Hutton for the team lead in digs with 15 apiece. Morfin had 14. Hutton also had four kills and three blocks.
For Middletown, now 6-4 in league play, Abby Aden’s 12 kills led the way and Meghan Carlisle had eight. Emily Lescher and Tana Bouscal added six apiece.
“I’m really happy with the way we came back,” Brenner said. “We didn’t play very well in the first two games but games three and four I was very happy with my girls.”
Clear Lake won the junior varsity match 25-21, 25-10 and is now 11-0 in league play with three matches remaining. Kiana Richardson led the Cardinals with six kills.
