CLOVERDALE >> Down two sets to none in a gym they haven’t played very well in the past few seasons, the Middletown Mustangs staged a dramatic rally to stun the Cloverdale Eagles 22-25, 20-25 25-16, 25-22, 15-13 on Tuesday night in a North Central League I varsity volleyball marathon at Cloverdale High School.
Middletown (2-1) handed Cloverdale (2-1) its first league loss in the process.
“I’ll take the win, but I think they’re trying to kill me,” Middletown head coach Vanessa Davis jokingly said of her players. “I’m a blond but my hair is starting to turn white. It was a thriller.”
Two seniors came up big all night for the Mustangs,but especially in the decisive back-and-forth fifth set.
“Shea Rockwell had the best game of her life,” Davis said. “We were down by two points and she served three aces in a row. She also had 12 kills on 24 arms swings with only four errors.”
Not to be outdone, Taelor Roderick delivered two crucial aces from the service line in the fifth set.
“Right when it counted,” Davis said of Roderick, the Mustangs’ libero.
On the verge of being swept by the Eagles after losses in the first two sets, the Mustangs turned it around in set three thanks in large part to Roderick’s defense, according to Davis.
“She got to balls I didn’t think anyone could get to,” Davis said. “She changed the whole dynamic of the match.”
Roderick finished with 19 digs.
“It’s the best I’ve ever seen her play,” Davis said.
The Mustangs also received solid conributions from Taylor Griffin (13 kills, three aces) and from setter Yasamine Heidary, who finished with 11 assists.
Middletown also won the junior varsity match 25-18, 27-25 and is now 3-0 in league play. Gracie Wagner, a freshman, provided the Mustangs with solid play from the service line and in the passing department, according to head coach Nikeedra Davis.
“She did great on serving and had four (points) in a row tonight,” Davis said. “She also did awesome with her passing.”
Another freshman, Emma Hansen, the team’s middle blocker, had three blocks and two kills.
“As a team we’re communicating really well,” Davis said.
Both Middletown teams are on the road Thursday to take on Kelseyville beginning at 5 p.m.
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
Fort Bragg def. Clear Lake
At Fort Bragg, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves rallied from two sets down to hand the Clear Lake Cardinals their first NCL I loss, 23-25, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 15-9.
“We made a lot of mistakes and there was some bad timing,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said. “Kylie passed the ball real well and we hit it well.”
Setter Kylie Udy distributed the ball to all of Clear Lake’s hitters, which is reflected by some solid kill totals as well as her 49 assists. Shaelyn McIntire and Emma Boatright led the way with 12 kills apiece, Joy Ingalls added another nine, Daijanae Landers finished with eight and Lilli Hill had six.
Libero Madi Ferguson led the team with 32 digs and Udy had 29.
Fort Bragg also won the JV match 25-19, 25-23, handing Clear Lake (2-1) its first league loss.
Raina Clifton’s five kills and nine digs powered the Cardinals, who had just seven players in uniform because of sickness.
“She played really well on defense tonight,” Clear Lake coach Morgan Psalmonds said of Clifton.
Lexey Wurm added five aces and had a run of five straight service points in the second set. She also logged eight digs.
Both Clear Lake teams return to action Thursday at home against Willits beginning at 5 p.m.
Kelseyville def. Willits
At Willits, a young and improving Willits team was no match for the veteran Kelseyville Knights, who prevailed in straight sets 25-11, 25-12, 25-11.
Kelseyville, the three-time defending NCL I champion, improved to a league-best 3-0 behind 10 kills and four aces from Allison Bryant, six kills and three aces from Grace Davidson, 14 assists from Paige Bour, and 14 digs from Payton Conrad.
Willits (0-3) is a team on the rise, according to Kelseyville coach Donelle McCallister.
“They’ve got a couple of good hitters, they just don’t know what to do with them yet,” McCallister said. “They’ve got a young team and I think they’ll have a competitive team for the next few years.”
Kelseyville also won the JV match 25-6, 25-16.
St. Helena def. Lower Lake
At St. Helena, with one starter out for disciplinary reasons and another not at 100 percent because of illness, the Lower Lake Trojans didn’t put up much of a fight in a 25-12, 25-15, 25-13 loss to the St. Helena Saints in NCL I action.
The highlight for the Trojans (0-3) was Tess Biasotti’s serving. She finished the night with 10 service points, including a run of seven in a row during one stretch.
“I’m proud of the way my reserves played,” Lower Lake coach Niki Emberson said.
Lower Lake’s JVs lost 25-22, 25-20.
The Trojans are home Thursday to play Cloverdale beginning at 5 p.m.
Upper Lake def. Tomales
At Tomales, the Upper Lake Cougars won the first two sets but then had to hang on to beat the Tomales Braves 25-12, 25-15, 22-25, 13-25, 15-10 in NCL II action.
“The first two matches we were on it,” Upper Lake coach Dani Paige Gudmundson Pena said. “We played great and the communication was on point. The third game came and the attitude came out with every error, which brought us downhill for the fourth (set). In the fifth set we finally decided we wanted this win and kicked it into gear.”
Standouts for the Cougars (2-4) were Alana Sanchez, Kaila Willard and Neveah Solario, according to Gudmondson Pena.
“They had a great night. We couldn’t have done it without them. Neveah’s serves, Kaila’s kills and Alana’s blocks … they were all on tonight,” Gudmundson Pena said.
There was no JV match.
Upper Lake is home Thursday to face Sonoma Academy beginning at 5 p.m.
