ST. HELENA >> The St. Helena Saints clinched second place in the North Central League I varsity volleyball standings on Tuesday night by sweeping the Clear Lake Cardinals 25-21, 25-11, 25-13 at St. Helena.
A win would have moved Clear Lake (9-4) into a second-place tie with the Saints (11-2). Both teams have one league match remaining. The Cardinals close at home Thursday against archrival Kelseyville (13-0), the NCL I champion.
“Everybody was off tonight,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said. “We couldn’t compete.”
Rachel Wingler led the Cardinals with six kills and 12 digs.
Earlier in the junior varsity match, Clear Lake rallied past St. Helena 20-25, 26-24, 15-9 to improve to 13-0 in the league standings. The Cardinals were on the verge of being swept in two straight trailing 22-14 in the second set, but Kiana Richardson reeled off 10 straight points at the service line and Clear Lake went on to win 26-24 and even the match at a set apiece.
Richardson led Clear Lake with six kills and Corin Alakszay had four kills.
“It definitely brought out the fight in us, which was nice to see,” Clear Lake coach Jennifer Scheel said of the come-from-behind win.
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
Cloverdale def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, not even getting out to a 6-1 lead in the second set could prevent Lower Lake from being swept by the Cloverdale Eagles, 25-14, 25-16, 25-17 winners over the Trojans.
“We let them come back and they took it to us,” Lower Lake coach Darcie Schmidt said. “Cloverdale played well and consistent and we did not.”
Team leaders for Lower Lake (1-12) were Ashlynn Mock with 11 digs and two kills, Brooke Taliaferro with three kills, and Alex DeGraw with eight digs.
Cloverdale improved to 7-6 in the league standings.
Lower Lake finishes up its season at home Thursday night against winless Willits.
Cloverdale beat Lower Lake 25-8, 14-25, 15-9 in the JV match.
St. Vincent def. Upper Lake
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars dropped their final home match of the season, falling 25-10, 25-14, 25-22 to the St. Vincent Mustangs in NCL II action.
Upper Lake honored its two seniors, Shably Navarro and Jessica Mooney, prior to the start of play.
On the court, St. Vincent overpowered Upper Lake up front, according to Upper Lake coach Raelene Cromwell.
“St. Vincent has some good hitters, they were pretty impressive,” Cromwell said.
Christina Wilson led the Cougars with seven kills. Birthday girl Natalie Karlsson, celebrating No. 16, added 12 assists, nine digs and three aces, and Brenna Sanchez had two kills and two blocks.
Upper Lake closes out its league schedule on Thursday in Tomales.
