LAKEPORT >> The Cloverdale Eagles stood between Clear Lake and a share of the North Central League I varsity volleyball championship on Thursday night. And from one bird mascot to another, there was no way the Cardinals were going to slip up after coming this far.
Clear Lake defeated Cloverdale 25-3, 25-15, 25-14 to close out league play at 13-1, that one loss coming in five sets at Kelseyville on Sept. 28. The Knights (12-1) won the other half of the league title with the Cardinals’ victory on Thursday. Those two teams will meet in a special playoff match Saturday at 5 p.m. in Kelseyville to determine which co-champion gets the league’s automatic playoff berth in next week’s North Coast Section playoffs. The outcome of that match won’t affect either team’s status as co-champion. However, it will give the winner a guaranteed first-round home match in the playoffs — in Division IV for Kelseyville or Division V for Clear Lake. The loser of the match will advance to its respective playoff bracket as an at-large team and could still end up with a first-round home match.
Clear Lake’s three-win week featured home victories against Fort Bragg on Monday (in three sets), against Kelseyville on Tuesday (in five sets), and on Thursday against Cloverdale. The marathon win over the Knights, who hadn’t lost a league match in more than three calendar years, was the lynchpin in the Cardinals’ title drive.
“It’s nice” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said of bringing home a league championship. “Coming off a big win (Tuesday against Kelseyville) I was kind of nervous because we still had to win today and I was hoping they wouldn’t let up. After a big match that can happen.”
Camille Donald ended all such worries while setting the tone early on for Clear Lake against Cloverdale. She reeled off 17 straight points from the service line in the first set.
“After that we just kind of cruised,” Psalmonds said.
Donald, Kiana Richardson and Valerie Hutton finished with nine kills apiece while Corin Alakszay added another five.
Clear Lake clinched the league’s JV championship with a 25-16, 25-14 victory over Cloverdale earlier in the evening. The two teams had the same number of league losses entering play, and the Cardinals finished 11-3.
Leading the way for Clear Lake were Daijanae Landers with seven kills and Natalie Perry and Shelby Butcher with four kills apiece. Emily Keiser also had to step in at setter for the injured Shaelyn McIntire and she finished with 17 assists.
Varsity notes: Kelseyville and Cloverdale were unable to reschedule an Oct. 19 match that was a casualty of the North Coast fires. Cloverdale High School suspended all athletic play for two weeks, leaving the Eagles with four makeup matches and there was simply no time to schedule one with the Knights. Officially that match goes down as a no-contest. Taking that into consideration, the Coastal Mountain Conference decided to award co-championships to Clear Lake and Kelseyville.
In other volleyball action Thursday:
M’town def. Lower Lake
At Middletown, the Middletown Mustangs dropped the first set but battled back to beat the Lower Lake Trojans 22-25, 25-10, 25-14, 25-20 in the league and regular-season finale for both teams.
Middletown finishes 5-8 in league play under the direction of first-year coach Vanessa Davis while Lower Lake closes 0-12 under the leadership of first-year coach Jen Emberson.
“I think we did incredible despite our win-loss record,” Davis said. “I can’t wait until next season and the players feel the same way. That fire in their belly is still there.”
Taylor Griffin’s seven kills, five blocks and four aces propelled the Mustangs.
“She had a great night,” Davis said.
Abbey Brown added six kills.
“Best she’s ever hit the ball and she’s only a sophomore,” Davis said.
Davis also had high praise for her only two seniors, Cheyanne Justice and Amy Herrmann. Justice had her best match of the season with four blocks and two kills while Herrmann’s overall court leadership was one thing the Mustangs could count on all season, according to Davis.
“She’s a quality, awesome person and competitor,” Davis said of Herrmann. “I’m really going to miss that girl.”
Shelby Sapeta’s four kills, four aces and 12 digs led a young Lower Lake squad. Lily Griffin added seven kills, five digs and two aces.
Middletown also won the JV match, rallying to beat Lower Lake 17-25, 25-12, 15-9. Melissa Conley served nine straight points for the Mustangs in the third and deciding set. Other Middletown leaders were Rylann Wright and Haylee Sust, according to Middletown coach Nikeedra Davis.
“Rylann, our middle, had some great blocks and quite a few kills,” Davis said. “Haylee did a great job keeping everyone up.”
