KELSEYVILLE — Kelseyville High School varsity volleyball head coach Donelle McCallister tinkered with her lineup in the first set of the Knights’ North Central League I match with the Middletown Mustangs on Thursday night in Kelseyville.
It didn’t work.
Middletown won the first set 26-24 against the four-time defending league champions, but Kelseyville rallied back for a 24-26 25-15, 25-22, 25-9 victory to remain perfect in league play and tied with Cloverdale atop the league standings. Both 6-0, Kelseyville and Cloverdale close out the first half of their league schedules Tuesday in Cloverdale.
“We were trying some new stuff and it was still a little too new for them,” McCallister said of her players. “They didn’t like the changes, so we switched back to our normal lineup.”
“We played pretty darn good that first game,” Middletown coach Vanessa Davis said. “We did a good job in the third game too.”
The Mustangs (2-4) were without libero Stacey Tablit, who was shaken up in an automobile crash Wednesday but is doing fine.
Middletown’s two big hitters up front, Bella Dubois and Abbey Brown, both turned in solid performances against the powerful Knights. Dubois collected 13 kills to go along with seven digs while Brown, who wasn’t 100 percent because of illness, finished with 12 kills.
“She was pretty dominant tonight,” Davis said of Dubois.
“Abbey and Isabella, they did great,” McCallister said of Middletown’s two middle hitters.
Opposite outside hitter Madison Lamar also played well for the Mustangs, according to Davis.
“She did great on defense, helping out a lot on stopping Aly Bryant (Kelseyville’s star outside hitter).”
Lamar also had three kills.
Kelseyville standouts were Malia Brown with 12 digs and 18 total serves, and Jenna Williams and Kaley O’Boyle, both of whom did well from the service line.
“They helped us,” McCallister said.
“I think Cloverdale-Kelseyville is going to be a match,” said Davis of Tuesday’s first-place showdown in Cloverdale.
In JV action, Middletown rallied to win 14-25, 25-17, 15-12 behind six aces and three kills from Tori Tacla and four aces from Gracie Wagner.
After struggling with their serve in the first set, the Mustangs settled down and played well the remainder of the match, according to Middletown coach Erika Galvan.
“Everyone really stepped it up and played awesome those last two games,” she said. “We were really flat in the first game.”
Middletown travels to Willits on Tuesday for a 5 p.m. match that closes out the first half of the Mustangs’ league schedule.
In other volleyball action Thursday:
Clear Lake def. Willits
At Lakeport, a three-set sweep of the Willits Wolverines (0-6) was just what the Clear Lake Cardinals needed to snap a two-match league losing streak.
Clear Lake beat Willits 25-13, 25-12, 25-20 to square its league record at 3-3. The Cardinals can close out the first half of their NCL I schedule with a winning record if they beat St. Helena on the road Tuesday.
“We needed it,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said of the easy victory, that following on the heels of tough losses to Fort Bragg and Cloverdale.
Emma Boatright led the way with seven kills and five blocks, both team highs, while Shaelyn McIntire added six kills, six digs and two aces.
“She was hitting good at the net,” Psalmonds said of Boatright.
In the JV match, Clear Lake improved to 6-0 in the league standings with a 25-6, 25-16 victory over the Willits Wolverines.
“I was able to get everybody in there and my freshmen were able to play a full rotation,” Clear Lake coach Morgan Psalmonds said.
In a game that didn’t feature many kill opportunities, the Cardinals racked up a bunch of service points led by Lexey Wurm with 14, including three aces. She also had five digs. Felisha Cortez added seven points while Abby Mertle led Clear Lake with three kills.
Cloverdale def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, after losing their cool in the second set against the Cloverdale Eagles, the Lower Lake Trojans fought back hard even though they came out on the wrong end of a 25-18, 25-18, 25-19 decision.
Lower Lake coach Niki Emberson said she had to admonish two of her players for arguing with each other on the court after a ball fell between them. Cloverdale (6-0) had an 18-7 lead at the time.
“That’s a big no-no,” Emberson said. “I talked to them and they clawed their way back (into the set),” she added.
The Trojans (1-5) also played hard in the third and final set.
“We kind of came together during that second set,” Emberson said.
Emberson shifted one of her top hitters, Alisha Jones, to libero and the move bolstered Lower Lake’s passing.
“It helped with the passing but we missed her hitting,” Emberson said.
Jones finished with 20 digs, two kills and two assists.
“She had a really good match,” Emberson said.
Shelby Sapeta added nine kills and nine digs, Marnae Johnson had 14 digs, two kills and two aces, and Kayla Doud finished with five kills.
Cloverdale won the JV match 25-22, 25-22.
