ST. HELENA — In a battle of varsity volleyball teams looking for their first North Central League I win, the St. Helena Saints turned back the Middletown Mustangs 27-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-15 on Thursday night in St. Helena.
St. Helena improved to 1-2 in league action while Middletown fell to 0-2.
“I felt like we were evenly matched, but we made some silly mistakes that could have been prevented,” Middletown head coach Vanessa Davis said. “We let it slip out of our hands.”
Middletown players had to wear masks for the first time this season. While it was an adjustment for her players, Davis said it wasn’t the reason they lost.
“They were dripping with sweat in that hot gym,” Davis said. “I think every player went through five to 10 masks before we were done. It was definitely different for us.”
While the first three sets could have gone either way, the fourth set was pretty much all St. Helena as the first Saints server reeled off 10 straight points for a 10-0 lead.
“It was uphill after that,” Davis said.
Kamryn Atkins, Alley Brown and Sophie Smith led the Mustangs. Atkins finished with five kills and three blocks, Brown had six kills and two blocks, and Smith added six kills, three aces and one block.
Another positive for Middletown was a solid night at the service line where the Mustangs missed only five serves.
“That’s real good for us,” Davis said.
Middletown is scheduled to play three times next week, including home league league matches Tuesday against Clear Lake and Thursday against Kelseyville. The Mustangs hit the road Wednesday for a non-league match at Colusa.
Middletown beat St. Helena in two sets in the junior varsity match. Scores were not reported.
In other volleyball action Thursday:
Willits def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, the Willits Wolverines beat the Lower Lake Trojans 25-23, 26-24, 25-18 in NCL I action.
It was the first league win for the Wolverines (1-3). Lower Lake fell to 0-2.
“The girls played their best volleyball of the season,” Lower Lake head coach Cayla Knapp said. “We were down by six points in the second set and fought all the way back to take the lead.”
Sam Edrich had six kills and six digs for the Trojans.
“Her all-around play was fantastic, front row and back row,” Knapp said.
The team’s middle blockers, Kyleigh Mock and Bella Salazar, also played well, according to Knapp. Mock finished with five kills and three blocks while Salazar also had three blocks.
Willits won the JV match in two sets.
Roseland University Prep of Santa Rosa visits Lower Lake on Tuesday. JV action begins at 5 p.m.
Fort Bragg def Cloverdale
At Cloverdale, Fort Bragg kept pace with Roseland University Prep atop the league standings with a 25-19, 25-20, 28-26 victory over the Cloverdale Eagles, a win made even sweeter because of a Cloverdale crowd that was anything but kind to the visiting Timberwolves.
“It was a very unruly crowd but we never gave up,” Fort Bragg head coach Kim Mertle said. “They were awful, saying terrible things, which made the victory even sweeter.”
On Tuesday, Lower Lake head coach Cayla Knapp called the Cloverdale crowd “terrible” during her team’s visit to the north Sonoma County high school.
Fort Bragg (4-0) and RUP (4-0) are the only undefeated teams remaining in the NCL I standings. They’ll meet twice this year – next Thursday in Santa Rosa and Oct. 12 in Fort Bragg — in matches that could very well decide the league championship.
Lucy Hendricks and Carmen Velasquez powered the Timberwolves in their latest win. Hendricks finished with nine kills and 12 digs while Velasquez had seven kills, 12 assists and seven digs.
Fort Bragg also won the JV match 25-17, 26-24.
The Timberwolves are back in action Tuesday night at home against Willits. JV action starts at 5 p.m.
