KELSEYVILLE >> She’s all over the court and it’s pretty hard to miss her, and if Kelseyville High School volleyball head coach Donelle McCallister had just one word to describe senior libero Payton Conrad’s worth to the Knights, it would be something on the order of invaluable.
“Liberos don’t get enough credit,” McCallister said after the Knights dispatched the Lower Lake Trojans 25-19, 25-11, 25-9 in a North Central League I varsity volleyball match on Thursday night in Kelseyville.
Kelseyville has won some portion of the league title every year during Conrad’s time at the school and the four-year varsity veteran is likely to lead the Knights to another NCL I pennant this year, which would be their fourth in a row.
“Her passing and serving are incredible,” McCallister said.
Conrad had 18 digs on Thursday as the Knights improved to 2-0 in the league standings.
“She covers the whole court,” McCallister said. “I don’t know what we would do without her.”
Other Kelseyville leaders against Lower Lake were Allison Bryant with 15 kills and five aces, Grace Davidson with nine kills and Paige Bour with 19 assists.
McCallister also praised the play of first-year volleyball player Kat Brown, both for her work at the net and from the service line.
Fort Bragg was at a distinct disadvantage before the match started as both of the Timberwolf setters were unable to play because of injury.
“They played well and dug up some balls that other teams haven’t been able to,” McCallister said of the Timberwolf defense. “They played a lot better than the score shows.”
Kelseyville travels to Willits on Tuesday.
The Knights also won the junior varsity match, rallying for a 9-25, 25-20, 15-2 victory. Kasandra Villalobos served 10 straight point in the third set as Kelseyville opened up a 14-1 lead.
In other volleyball action Thursday:
Clear Lake def. Lower Lake
At Lakeport, the Clear Lake Cardinals improved to 2-0 in league play with a 25-13, 25-14, 25-18 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans.
Shaelyn McIntire, a junior, had another big night for Clear Lake as she led the team with 15 service points, six aces and 11 kills. She also had seven digs. Sophomore Emma Boatwright added eight kills and five blocks while senior libero Madi Ferguson registered 14 digs. Other leaders were Kylie Udy with 23 assists and Alicia McKnight with 10 service points and three aces.
“We got everybody in and that’s always a good thing,” Clear Lake head coach Marci Psalmonds said.
The Cardinals play a single match Friday night at Eureka and they return to action Saturday in the Arcata Tournament. On Tuesday, Clear Lake resumes league play at Fort Bragg.
Shelby Sapeta had four kills and 10 digs to lead Lower Lake and libero Maria Santos had a good night from the service line, according to Lower Lake coach Niki Emberson, who said the Trojans passed the ball well but committed far too many hitting errors against the Cardinals.
Lower Lake plays at St. Helena on Tuesday.
Clear Lake won the JV match 25-15, 25-14 behind five kills from Hailee Bussard, five aces from Raina Clifton and seven points from Shelby Ingham.
While the Cardinals, now 2-0 in league play, weren’t at their sharpest for the match, head coach Morgan Psalmonds said that’s OK.
“Our play was a little flat, but we can improve on this. You don’t walk to peak to soon,” Psalmonds said.
Middletown def. Willits
At Middletown, bouncing back from a five-set loss to Fort Bragg on Tuesday, the Middletown Mustangs made quick work of the Willits Wolverines, 25-16, 25-15, 27-25.
Abi Hibner collected 10 kills on 14 arm swings and with only one error. She also led the team with seven blocks.
Other Middletown standouts were Taylor Griffin with six kills and three blocks and setter Yasamine Heidary with nine assists.
Middletown coach Vanessa Davis also complimented the play of libero Taelor Roderick.
“She was all over the place for us,” Davis said.
Middletown is now 1-1 in league play.
“It was a great win, we’ll take it and we needed it,” Davis said.
The Mustangs also won the JV match 25-15, 25-18. Maddie Lamar served seven points in a row in the first set for Middletown (2-0) and Emma Hansen had three kills and two blocks in the second set.
“She’s doing great job as a freshman,” Middletown coach Nikeedra Davis said of Hansen.
Davis said she was impressed with the Mustangs’ overall effort.
“They talked to each other, they played well.”
