KELSEYVILLE >> Donelle McCallister said the credit goes to Lick-Wilmerding for beating her Kelseyville Knights 25-16, 15-25, 25-13, 25-13 in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs on Saturday night at Kelseyville High School.
“We didn’t play bad, they just played better,” the Kelseyville High School head coach said of the Tigers (15-14), who move on to the semifinals on Wednesday night to play No. 1 seed Marin Catholic.
“I told my players not to look at their record because they play in a real tough league. They would stick out an arm, a hand. They picked up everything.” Case in point were the 115 swings the Knights (23-8) put on the ball at the net.
“We had only 21 attack errors, which is a real good percentage,” McCallister said. “Carli had 15 kills on 52 swings with only five errors, which is really good.”
Mendonca led the Knights, the undefeated North Central League I champions this season, with her 15 kills while Heidy Cano, the team’s lone senior, finished her Kelseyville career with 10 kills.
A big passing night from freshman Payton Conrad (33 digs) helped the Knights even the match at a set apiece before the Tigers took over in sets three and four. Setter Riley Goff finished with 23 assists.
“It’s always disappointing when your season ends,” McCallister said. “But they were a good team.”
Kelseyville’s league title this season was its second in three years and the Knights, given they return five of six starters next season, should be right back in the running again in 2016.
“We’ll have to look out for Clear Lake, they should be real good,” McCallister said of the Cardinals, who finished fourth in the league race this season but had an undefeated championship team at the junior varsity level.
Kelseyville defeated Healdsburg at home in a first-round playoff match last week to reach Saturday’s quarterfinal round.
