DURHAM >> When you’re the seventh seed in the Northern California volleyball playoffs, the pressure’s on the other guy, and the Clear Lake Cardinals are relishing the role of underdog during their odyssey through the Division V tournament.
Clear Lake won its second straight NorCal match on Saturday, upsetting No. 2 seed Durham, the Northern Section champion, 25-18, 16-25, 25-23, 25-12 in Durham. Next up for the Cardinals (29-6) is No. 3 seed Mt. Madonna (16-11) in a semifinal-round match Tuesday in Watsonville at 7 p.m.
Mt. Madonna was the Central Coast Section runner-up this season while Clear Lake lost to Berean Christian of Walnut Creek in the quarterfinals of the North Coast Section playoffs. Berean Christian, the No. 4 seed, plays No. 1 San Marin of Novato in Tuesday’s other semifinal.
Semifinal-round winners meet Saturday at 6 p.m. in the NorCal championship match at a site to be determined. The NorCal and SoCal winners play for the state championship on Dec. 1.
“It was a total group effort,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said of the Cardinals’ big road win over Durham. “Madi Ferguson had an awesome match. They had one big hitter and Madi was able to pick up a lot of her shots.”
Ferguson, the Cardinals’ junior libero, had 24 digs to spark a Clear Lake defense that also came up huge with 13 blocks.
“That’s a lot for us,” Psalmonds said.
Psalmonds said contributions from all of her players made the Cardinals’ most recent NorCal win happen, and she wasn’t trying to be diplomatic in saying that. It was the truth.
Kiana Richardson blasted away at the Trojans and racked up 19 kills while Camille Donald and Valerie Hutton chipped in with another 13 and six kills, respectively. Corin Alakszay caught fire in the fourth and final set, blocking four shots and collecting five kills.
“Their big hitter was in the back row and Corin took advantage,” Psalmonds said.
Junior setter Kylie Udy had a big night distributing the ball and she had no shortage of targets while setting up Richardson, Donald, Hutton and Alakszay. She was credited with 42 assists.
“Everyone did their job,” Psalmonds said. “It was fun to watch.”
Psalmonds said her players are enjoying themselves while preparing for another long road trip on Tuesday – approximately four hours and 25 minutes, or twice as long as the trip to Durham.
“We’re underdogs and there’s not a lot of pressure on us,” she said. “How often do you make it this far (in the playoffs)? You better enjoy it.”
Clear Lake had a large rooting section in Durham, according to Psalmonds, and expects an equally large turnout for the Cardinals’ match Tuesday.
“We had a big show of fan support,” Psalmonds said.
Durham was not only Clear Lake’s second straight victim in the NorCal playoffs, but the Cardinals’ second straight Northern Section opponent. Clear Lake defeated East Nicolaus 25-10, 25-12, 25-16 in first-round action last week in Lakeport.
As for the Mt. Madonna Hawks, Clear Lake’s next opponent, Psalmonds said she little information to go on in terms of a scouting report.
“We’re going in blind, but that’s OK,” she said. “We’re looking forward to it.”
