LAKEPORT >> Hurricane Camille had nothing on Camille Donald, who simply overwhelmed the East Nicolaus Spartans on Wednesday night as the Clear Lake Cardinals rolled into the quarterfinals of the Northern California Division V volleyball playoffs with a 25-10, 25-12, 25-16 first-round win at Lakeport.
Clear Lake (28-6), the No. 7 seed in the Division V field, advances into Saturday’s quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Durham (29-4), which struggled in its first-round victory on Wednesday night over No. 15 Bradshaw Christian, 25-19, 25-20, 25-22. The quarterfinal-round match takes place in Durham beginning at 6 p.m. with the winner advancing to the semifinals on Tuesday.
Durham won the Northern Section championship this season while East Nicolaus (19-12) was eliminated by Durham in the Northern Section semifinals.
“I talked to their (Spartans’) coach and she thinks we can beat them, so that’s good to hear,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said. “We’ve got a chance.”
The Cardinals certainly do if they get another effort from the senior Donald such as on Wednesday night. While she might not be able to match the 1969 Category 5 hurricane that bears her first name in terms of ferocity, Donald was nevertheless a force to be reckoned with, and the All-League first-team outside hitter made only two hitting errors all night. She led the team with 18 kills on 35 arm swings, which are tremendous numbers given the match went the minimum three sets.
Psalmonds said she was certainly impressed.
“She was in a zone,” Clear Lake’s veteran coach said. “It didn’t matter where she was on the court. She was getting the ball over their blocks. She had an awesome night.”
Clear Lake setter Kylie Udy (31 assists to go along with 10 digs) and libero Madi Ferguson (13 digs) also led the way for the Cardinals, the co-North Central League I champions who were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the North Coast Section Division V playoffs on Nov. 4 when they lost at home to Berean Christian of Walnut Creek.
“That was our only home loss this season,” Psalmonds said.
It also appeared to be the team’s final match until the Cardinals learned last weekend that they not only had secured an at-large berth in the NorCal playoffs, but a first-round home match as well.
Most of Psalmonds’ squad, including nearly all of her starters, spent the week in between trying out for the basketball team. The Cardinals had only two practices – Monday and Tuesday – to re-acclimate themselves to the volleyball court, and it didn’t appear to be a problem based on their play against East Nicolaus.
“We were re-energized and ready to go,” said Psalmonds, who praised her defense for being able to thwart the many quick attacks by the Spartans, who tried to surprise the Cardinals by knocking the ball over the net on the second touch.
“I had some inside information about what they do and we handled it pretty well,” Psalmonds said.
Ferguson’s ability to dig up everything near her aided Clear Lake’s cause immensely.
“Madi made no errors tonight, which was huge for us,” Psalmonds said.
The same couldn’t be said of the East Nicolaus defense, which couldn’t hold up to Clear Lake’s powerful attacks except for a handful of occasions when the Spartans did manage to block either Donald or Kiana Richardson, who finished with seven kills.
“They were playing volleyball, smiling and having fun,” Psalmonds said of her players. “There was no pressure. All we have to do is play the best that we can. They’ve got heart and they can do this.”
