ST. HELENA >> Tuck another perfect half into the record books for the Kelseyville High School varsity volleyball team after a 25-18, 25-15, 25-27, 25-14 victory over the St. Helena Saints on Tuesday in North Central League I action at St. Helena.
It’s not like the Knights, two-time defending league champions, haven’t been here before. At 7-0 on the season, they have now won 41 consecutive NCL I matches dating back to their last loss, which came on Oct. 16, 2014 at St. Helena. They won their final six league matches in 2014 and followed that up by going 14-0 in both the 2015 and ‘16 campaigns.
Allison Bryant, a sophomore, really took it to the Saints, registering 20 kills to go along with five blocks, both team highs. Setter Tymeka Green finished with 27 assists while Kendyll Nunn and Grace Davidson each had three blocks.
Kelseyville coach Donelle McCallister also was impressed with the play of freshman Ryann Taylor.
“She played pretty darn good,” McCallister said. “She’s a freshman but she’s really stepping up. She hits on the right side, on the left side and in the middle … she does it all.”
It was a Taylor kill that ended the match.
In junior varsity action Tuesday, Kelseyvillle jumped back into the win column with a 25-12, 25-18 victory that raises its league record to 5-2.
Team leaders for the Knights were Kaley O’Boyle with six aces and four assists, Megan Holland with four kills, Jenna Williams with three kills and two aces, Hayllie Beverlin with five aces and three kills, Anna Scully with three kills, and Alexa Vargas with five assists and four digs.
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
Clear Lake def. Cloverdale
At Cloverdale, the Clear Lake Cardinals (6-1) handed the Cloverdale Eagles (4-3) their third straight league loss, 25-14, 25-16, 25-18, to complete the first half of the NCL I season.
Clear Lake makes the turn at 6-1 and remains a game behind Kelseyville (7-0) in the standings.
“They just stayed on it all night,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said of her team’s up-tempo performance. “I think playing in the tournament over the weekend helped us (get ready). We had good teamwork tonight.”
Camille Donald and Kiana Richardson each finished with 12 kills. Donald added a team-best 13 digs while libero Madi Ferguson had 12 digs and Richardson 11.
“Our serve receive was much better tonight,” Psalmonds said.
Also for the Cardinals, Corin Alakszay added four kills and four blocks while Valerie Hutton had four kills and three blocks. Setter Kylie Udy finished with 31 assists.
In JV action, Clear Lake made quick of Cloverdale, winning 25-18, 25-11. Alisha McKnight had six service points and four digs for the Cardinals while teammate Emily Keiser added six points and seven assists.
The JV Cardinals complete the first half of their league schedule at 6-1.
M’town def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, the Middletown Mustangs won their second straight league match while keeping Lower Lake winless in the NCL I standings, 25-10, 25-21, 25-23.
“We got better as the night went along,” Lower Lake coach Jen Emberson said.
Leading the Trojans (0-7) were Lily Griffin with six kills, five aces and six digs, Alisha Jones with four kills, five digs and one block, and Shelby Sapeta with five kills and eight digs.
Isabella DuBois replaced Abi Hibner (out sick) on the front row for Middletown and picked up the slack, according to Middletown coach Vanessa Davis.
“DuBois really stepped it up,” Davis said. “She did a great job filling in.”
Abbey Brown reeled off six straight service points in the third set to rally Middletown into the lead.
“She was clutch,” Davis said.
Another Middletown standout was Emily Santiago, a freshman outside hitter.
The Mustangs open the second half of their league schedule home Thursday against Fort Bragg.
“I’m looking for them to be dominant in the second half,” Davis said of her players.
In the JV match, Middletown beat Lower Lake 25-21, 17-25, 16-14. Middle hitter Maddie Lamar led the Mustangs up front with three kills.
“She just played really well tonight,” Middletown coach Nikeedra Davis said.
Another standout for the Mustangs was Syrah Moore, according to Davis. “She did a really good job serving and played great all the way around, in the back row and in the front row.”
Jordan Rivera had two kills and five assists for Lower Lake.
Upper Lake def. Credo
At Upper Lake, in a NCL II match that was moved from Rohnert Park to Upper Lake at the last minute, the Upper Lake Cougars improved to 8-2 in the league standings with a 26-24, 25-22, 25-10 victory over Credo, a first-year member of the league.
“Credo has really improved,” Upper Lake coach Raelene Cromwell said. “Both their JV and varsity teams are playing better.”
The two teams traded the lead back and forth through the first two sets, according to Cromwell.
“The first two were close … too close for comfort,” Cromwell said. “We were really struggling with our serving. We finally got it together.”
Kaila Willard reeled off six straight points at the line in the third set as the Cougars breezed to a win to wrap up the match.
Christina Wilson racked up 14 kills and 16 digs in the win while teammate Brenna Sanchez added eight kills and three blocks. Seneca Snow had two kills and six digs.
Briana Binns returned to her libero position after being pressed into service as the Cougars’ setter last week and responded with 16 digs.
“She was happy to be back at libero,” Cromwell said.
Upper Lake is 8-2 in league play.
