MIDDLETOWN — Not even solid all-around performances from middle hitters Bella Dubois and Abbey Brown could save Middletown on Tuesday evening as the Clear Lake Cardinals, despite a subpar night passing the ball, beat the Mustangs 25-20, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20 in North Central League I varsity volleyball action at Middletown.
Dubois filled up the stats sheet with team highs in kills (17) and blocks (3). She also had 10 digs and one ace. Brown added 13 kills, nine digs and three aces.
“I’ve got two middles that play with a lot of heart,” Middletown coach Vanessa Davis said. “It was a competitive match for sure, but we came out pretty flat, and you just can’t do that. We’ve got to come out ready to win.”
“We struggled with our passing, it was pretty ugly, but we got the job done,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said as the Cardinals improved to 2-1 in the league standings.
Shaelyn McIntire (12 kills, nine digs), Joy Ingalls (nine kills) and Daijanae Landers (six kills, six blocks) helped put the Cardinals back in the win column after a loss at home on Thursday to Kelseyville.
Also for the Cardinals, Sydney Howe rolled up 21 assists to go along with a team-best six aces, and Zoey Petrie had 17 assists.
For Middletown (0-3), outside hitter Mylie Turney had five kills, 11 digs and two aces.
Both teams are on the road Thursday – Clear Lake at Cloverdale while Middletown visits St. Helena.
In the junior varsity match, Clear Lake had its hands full while rallying to beat Middletown 22-25, 25-23, 15-8.
Freshman Abby Mertle led the Cardinals, now 3-0 in league play, with five kills and three blocks. Other team leaders were Hailee Bussard with four kills and seven digs, Lexey Wurm with 11 service points, and Raina Clifton with 11 digs, three aces and one kill.
“That was a pretty big kill, too,” Clear Lake coach Morgan Psalmonds said of Clifton. “It helped us turn momentum in the third set.”
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
Lower Lake def. Willits
At Willits, the Lower Lake Trojans snapped a 34-match league losing streak, sweeping the Willits Wolverines 25-3, 25-23, 25-12 in NCL I action.
Lower Lake (1-2) had gone almost three calendar years without a league victory, its last win, also a three-set sweep, coming against Willits in Lower Lake on Oct. 4, 2016.
The Trojans certainly rallied around teammate Lynzi Milano, a junior libero, who played her final match with the team this season. Milano is preparing to undergo chemotherapy for a medical condition later this week. She served up three aces for Lower Lake.
“The girls have dedicated the rest of the season to Lynzi,” Lower Lake coach Niki Emberson said. “The girls came together tonight and worked hard for her.”
Shelby Sapeta served 15 straight points in the first set as Lower Lake opened up a 16-1 lead. She finished the match with 22 service points, seven digs and six kills.
Other Lower Lake standouts were setter Jordan Rivera with 11 assists and two aces and Kayla Doud with seven kills and two blocks.
The Trojans also won the junior varsity match, beating the Wolverines 23-25, 25-10, 15-9.
Lower Lake’s teams are home Thursday to play Kelseyville.
Kelseyville def. St. Helena
At Kelseyville, there was a time when Kelseyville vs. St. Helena was the match, often determining the league championship, but times have changed and the Saints are rebuilding under a first-year coach.
“They’ve got a good JV team,” Kelseyville coach Donelle McCallister said after her varsity Knights dispatched the Saints 25-9, 25-13, 25-14 behind 15 kills from Allison Bryant. “I think they’re going to be pretty good in a few years.”
Kelseyville, seeking a fifth straight league title, improved to 3-0 in the NCL I standings.
While Bryant was leading the Knights up front, setter Paige Bour was doing her job as she dished out 30 assists to go along with five aces. Kaylei Davis added four kills on only seven arm swings.
McCallister also was impressed with the serving of Jenna Williams.
“Our girls played a good match,” McCallister said.
The Knights went 2-2 on Saturday at the NorCal Invitational in Novato. They beat Capuccino and Novato before losing to Turlock (in three sets) and Chico (in two sets), both large schools, in their final two matches.
“Turlock is Division 1,” McCallister said.
In JV action Tuesday, St. Helena rallied to beat Kelseyville 15-25, 25-18, 15-6.
St. Vincent def. Upper Lake
At Petaluma, the St. Vincent Mustangs handled the Upper Lake Cougars in the minimum three sets, 25-8, 25-21, 25-7, in NCL II action.
“They had a really good hitter and they set her up in the front row and in the back row,” Upper Lake coach Dani Paige Gudmundson Pena said. “We dug up quite a few in the second game, which we led most of the way.”
Alana Sanchez led the Cougars with eight kills, Laylah Medina had a team-best five blocks, and Coleen Pulido-Doyle had 15 digs.
St. Vincent also won the JV match 25-9, 22-25, 15-7.
Upper Lake’s teams visit Tomales on Thursday.
