UPPER LAKE — Zoey Pepper and Raina Clifton earned All-Tournament honors while leading the Clear Lake Cardinals to the championship in the inaugural Cougar Invitational on Saturday at Upper Lake High School.
The round-robin competition featured all five of Lake County’s varsity volleyball teams. Clear Lake defeated Kelseyville, Lower Lake, Middletown and Upper Lake in pool play before advancing to the championship match against Upper Lake where the Cardinals posted a 25-13, 23-25, 15-8 victory.
Middletown beat Kelseyville 25-19, 11-25, 15-13 to claim third place.
While all of the county’s teams lost their 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic, Clear Lake emerged from the long layoff with a couple of advantages, according to head coach Marci Psalmonds.
“It looks like my girls have been playing together longer,” Psalmonds said. “They looked more in sync. My girls are playing more as a team but we’re still up and down at times, especially early in matches.”
Psalmonds said she wasn’t surprised that the Cardinals drew Upper Lake in the championship match after Clear Lake’s 25-21, 25-21 win over the Cougars in pool play.
“Upper Lake impressed me a lot since the first time we played them,” Psalmonds said of the Cougars’ relatively easy three-game sweep of the Cardinals in a non-league match Aug. 17 at Upper Lake. “They’ve improved a lot.”
Psalmonds also said Middletown’s front line can smack the ball pretty well, and head coach Vanessa Davis’ Mustangs also gave Clear Lake a pretty good fight in pool play before droping a 26-24, 25-21 decision.
Clear Lake beat Kelseyville 25-19, 25-16 and Lower Lake 25-18, 25-10 to round out pool play.
Upper Lake, Kelseyville and Middletown all went 2-2 in pool matches. The Cougars advanced to the championship match based on tiebreakers.
A balanced Cardinals attack carried the day. While Clear Lake may not have the dominant front-row hitters it’s had in past seasons, the team has many players equal in ability, all of whom bring something to the table. It also means that if one or two players are off in a given match, there are others who can carry the team.
Pepper, filling in for starter Cady Harmon (COVID-19 quarantine), not only stepped up her game but earned All-Tourney honors in the process. She finished with a team-best 21 kills to go along with 33 diges, 41 service points and eight aces.
“She had a great tournament,” Psalmonds said.
Sierra Bruch, Stella Hill and Abby Mertle added 19, 18 and 17 kills, respectively. Two other team leaders were Sydney Howe with 47 assists and All-Tourney selection Clifton with 11 aces and a team-best 61 digs.
“Raina did an awesome job,” Psalmonds said.
Clear Lake’s received a golden volleyball as its championship trophy.
Lower Lake
While the Trojans didn’t win a match, just being out on the court again was a victory for her players, according to head coach Cayla Knapp.
Lower Lake missed out on its first two North Central League I matches last week because several players were in COVID-19 quarantine, but the Trojans were nearly back to full strength for the tournament.
“We have one girl still out,” Knapp said. “I had nine girls in uniform.”
The Trojans’ practice schedule also has been limited because of the Cache Fire that swept through the Lower Lake community two weeks ago, closing the school and the two gyms.
Knapp said while it’s been a struggle just to practice, her players are holding up well.
“We never gave up, we laid out for everything,” Knapp said.
“They’re small, but they’re a scrappy team,” Psalmonds added of the Trojans.
In order of matches played, Lower Lake fell 25-12, 25-23 to Upper Lake, 25-20, 25-10 to Middletown, 25-10, 25-11 to Kelseyville, and 25-18, 25-10 to Clear Lake.
Knapp gave high marks to the play of Bella Salazar, her top all-around players at the tournament.
“She was aggressive at the net and she also played the back row really well,” Knapp said. “She did a really good job all the way around.”
Salazar had nine kills and two blocks.
Another Lower Lake standout was Tiahna Tubbs, a sophomore outside/middle hitter who finished with seven aces.
All-Tourney
Joining Clear Lake’s Pepper and Clifton on the All-Tournament team were Upper Lake’s Taylar Minnis and Zoey Petrie, Middletown’s Ella Sust and Jaidyn Brown, and Kelseyville’s Olivia Hommer, a freshman.
