FORT BRAGG >> Camille Donald elevated her game on Tuesday evening and the Clear Lake Cardinals improved to 3-0 in the North Central League I varsity volleyball standings with a 25-13, 25-20, 25-16 victory over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in Fort Bragg.
Donald, a standout for Clear Lake on most nights, did one better against the Timberwolves with a team-high and season-best 19 kills to go along with 10 digs. Kiana Richardson’s 14 kills and 12 digs along with seven kills and five blocks from Corin Alakszay powered the Cardinals.
“Camille had a great night,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said. “Corin played well at the net tonight, too.”
Clear Lake came off the bus a bit sluggish after its long road trip to the Mendocino County coast but picked up the pace as the match progressed, according to Psalmonds. And the Timberwolves (1-2) didn’t make it easy on the Cardinals.
“Fort Bragg is a pretty scrappy team,” Psalmonds said. “They picked up a lot of our balls.”
Other Clear Lake leaders were Madi Ferguson with 14 digs and Kyle Udy with 33 assists and 10 digs.
Fort Bragg won the junior varsity match in three sets, 25-18, 18-25, 17-15. Joy Ingalls led the Cardinals with seven digs.
Clear Lake’s teams return to action Thursday in Willits.
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
K’ville def. Willits
At Kelseyville, the Kelseyville Knights kept pace with the Clear Lake Cardinals atop the league standings by making quick work of Willits, 25-7, 25-12, 25-8.
Coach Donelle McCallister emptied her bench early on against the Wolverines, who fell to 0-3 in league play.
“Everybody got to be a part of it (the win),” McCallister said. “Everybody played well.”
Team leaders for the Knights (3-0) were Grace Davidson with nine kills, Allison Bryant with six aces and 13 assists, Malia Brown with five aces and Payton Conrad with 19 digs.
Kelseyville’s JV squad also improved to 3-0 in league play with a come-from-behind 21-25, 25-17, 15-5 win over Willits.
Megan Holland’s six kills and three aces helped spark the Knights. Hayllie Beverlin added six aces and two kills while Kasandra Villalobos finished with three kills and Kaley O’Boyle had six assists and three aces. Jenna Williams added six assists and five aces.
“I game ‘em a little talk (after the first set) and they responded,” Kelseyville coach Deanna Goff said of her players. “Willits was picking up the ball and playing pretty well, but they (Knights) pulled it together and got the win.”
Kelseyville’s teams are on the road Thursday against Middletown.
Cloverdale def. M’town
At Middletown, Middletown battled but couldn’t get the win against the Cloverdale Eagles, who rallied to beat the Mustangs 23-25, 25-17, 28-26, 25-15 in NCL I action.
“I’m very proud of how they played,” Middletown coach Vanessa Davis said of the Mustangs (1-2). “We definitely played hard and fought the whole way. We improved a lot.”
Taylor Griffin finished with seven kills, six blocks and two aces while libero Taelor Roderick led the way with 17 digs. Also coming up big for the Mustangs were Amy Herrmann with six kills, 11 digs and one ace, and Abby Hibner with 10 kills and five blocks.
“Amy Herrmann was on fire tonight,” Davis said. “She was killing it up there.”
Cloverdale won the JV match in three sets, 25-14, 15-25, 15-8.
St. Helena def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans fell 25-22, 25-10, 25-14 to the St. Helena Saints in a battle of two young teams looking for their first league win.
“They came out and played beautifully in the first set, some of the best volleyball we’ve played all year, especially Lily Griffin,” Lower Lake coach Jen Emberson said of the Trojans’ play early on in the match. “Then we lost momentum in the second set. We got some of it back in the third set but not enough.”
Griffin, an outside hitter, finished with a team-best 11 kills to go along with eight digs. Shelby Sapeta added four kills and 12 digs while Tessa Biasotti led the Trojans (0-3) with 15 assists.
“She (Griffin) had a fantastic game,” Emberson said.
St. Helena also won the JV match, rallying for a 18-25, 25-14, 15-11 victory.
Lower Lake’s teams travel to Cloverdale on Thursday.
Upper Lake def. Tomales
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars did a bit of sleepwalking in the second set but otherwise dominated the Tomales Braves 25-10, 16-25, 25-14, 25-12 in NCL II action.
“They were sleeping in that second set, but they pulled it together and then it flowed pretty good,” Upper Lake coach Raelene Cromwell said of the Cougars’ play.
Upper Lake, now 4-2 in league play, also overcame the absence of libero Briana Binns, who missed the match with an injury.
Leading the way against Tomales were Christian Wilson with 13 kills, 10 digs, 13 serves points and two aces; Seneca Snow with 22 digs, 10 kills, 10 service points and two aces; and Brenna Sanchez with 16 service points and seven kills.
Upper Lake hits the road Thursday to play Sonoma Academy. JV action starts at 5 p.m. There was no JV match on Tuesday.
