ST. HELENA — Rallying from two sets down, the Middletown Mustangs notched their first North Central League I varsity volleyball win of the year Thursday with a marathon 18-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-8 victory over the St. Helena Saints at St. Helena.
“We overcame that mental hurdle that has been holding us back,” Middletown coach Vanessa Davis said.
Middle hitters Abbey Brown and Bella Dubois continue to put up big numbers for the Mustangs (1-3), but this time around they had help from plenty of their teammates.
“They were all over the place again,” Davis said of Brown and Dubois. “I know I mention them a lot, but they deserve it.”
Brown’s contributions included team highs in kills with 16 and blocks with eight. She also had three aces, all of them coming at pivotal points of the match.
“Three aces when it mattered,” Davis said. “And she served five points in the fourth game that were huge.”
Dubois added 14 kills, four blocks and an ace.
“Both of them were passing up a storm, too,” Davis said. “They set each other up and critique each other on their passing. They’ve really got a chemistry going.”
Davis also cited the strong play of setters Haylee Sust (20 assists) and Melissa Conley and the serving and back row play of Syrah Moore. Conley and Moore are first-year varsity players.
Middletown also won the JV match 25-20, 25-22, its first league victory of the season. Skylar Williams moved from middle hitter to outside hitter because of injuries to teammates and turned in a solid effort for the Mustangs (1-3).
“She was stepping it up,” Middletown coach Erika Galvan said. “She had a ton kills and blocks and a couple of aces. Good overall play.”
Middle hitter Emma Hansen also recorded a number of kills, according to Galvan, who didn’t have her official stats sheet.
Middletown’s teams return home Tuesday to take on Lower Lake.
In other volleyball action Thursday:
Cloverdale def. Clear Lake
At Cloverdale, the Cloverdale Eagles kept pace with the Kelseyville Knights atop the NCL I standings with a 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19 victory over the Clear Lake Cardinals.
Cloverdale and Kelseyville are both 4-0 in league play. Clear Lake fell to 2-2.
“It was a bad loss for us,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said. “We had leads in the first and third sets and couldn’t hold them. We blocked well, but we couldn’t get our offense going. Our serve receive was struggling tonight.”
Shaelyn McIntire’s nine kills led the Cardinals up front. Joy Ingalls added seven kills on her 17th birthday, and Emma Boatright had seven kills and six blocks. Other leaders were libero Cady Harmon with 17 digs and setters Zoey Petrie and Sydney Howe with 16 assists apiece. Petrie also had four kills.
In the JV match, Clear Lake might not have brought its “A” game to Cloverdale, but the Cardinals still dominated the Eagles 25-14, 25-12 to improve to 4-0 in the league standings.
“We still pulled out a win and that’s all I can ask for right now,” Clear Lake coach Morgan Psalmonds said.
Abby Mertle and Zoey Pepper led the Cardinals with four kills apiece. Pepper also had 10 service points and four digs. Raina Clifton added 16 service points, including two aces, and six digs.
Clear Lake’s teams are back in action Tuesday at home against Fort Bragg. The varsity Cardinals are also entered in a tournament Saturday in Sacramento.
Kelseyville def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, led by 17 kills from Allison Bryant, the Kelseyville Knights improved to 4-0 in league play with a 25-14, 25-15, 25-19 victory over the Lower Lake Trojans.
Kalee Ellis’ serving and play at the net (nine kills) also propelled the four-time defending league champions.
“She did great tonight,” Keleyville coach Donelle McCallister said of Ellis.
Other Kelseyville standouts were Ryann Taylor with four kills and seven aces, setter Paige Bour with 34 assists, and Alexa Vargas with eight digs.
“She worked really hard,” McCallister said of Vargas.
Coming off a league win Tuesday night against Willits, the Trojans’ first league victory in almost three calendar years, Lower Lake coach Niki Emberson said her squad hung in there and never gave up against the powerful Knights.
“They improved each set,” she said. “We celebrated the small moments.”
Shelby Sapeta’s four kills and 12 digs led the Trojans (1-3). Kayla Doud contributed five kills and two aces, Marnae Johnson had eight digs and two aces, and Alisha Jones added four kills.
“We lost to a really talented team,” Emberson said. “They are so well coached and have good chemistry.”
Lower Lake won the JV match 25-17, 25-20.
The Trojans return to action Monday with a non-league match against Rancho Cotate in Rohnert Park. They resume league play on Tuesday in Middletown. Kelseyville’s teams are on the road Tuesday to play Willits.
Upper Lake def. Tomales
At Tomales, after a seesaw first game, the Upper Lake Cougars took care of business while beating the Tomales Braves 25-23, 25-15, 25-14 in NCL II action.
“We finally pulled it together at the end of the first game,” Upper Lake coach Dani Paige Gudmundson Pena said.
Madison Noble, a freshman, had a team-high six aces to go along with four kills. She long runs at the service line in the second and third sets to give Upper Lake substantial leads.
Seneca Snow led the Cougars with nine kills and also had five aces.
“They played really well,” Pena said of the Cougars. “I think it’s the first time this season we’ve played together as a team.”
There was no JV match.
Upper Lake’s teams are home Tuesday to play Sonoma Academy.
