MIDDLETOWN — Jumping back into the win column were the Clear Lake Cardinals with a 25-20, 25-16, 21-25, 25-17 victory over the Middletown Mustangs in North Central League I varsity volleyball action Tuesday evening in Middletown.
Coming off a loss to undefeated Roseland University Prep last week, Clear Lake (3-1) struggled on defense most of the way, according to head coach Marci Psalmonds.
“It wasn’t our best match, but we did enough to get the win. They weren’t happy with themselves, which was nice to see,” Psalmonds said of the reaction of her players to their up-and-down play against the Mustangs. “We just didn’t have it tonight.”
Sydney Howe probably had the best match among the Cardinals with 19 assists, seven kills and four aces. Other leaders were Stella Hill with 10 kills, Raina Clifton with 17 digs and three aces, and Abby Mertle with nine kills and two blocks,
Middletown (0-3) didn’t get its first league win, but head coach Vanessa Davis said the Mustangs continue to move in the right direction.
“As a whole, we have definitely gotten better,” Davis said. “We are steadily improving as a team. We definitely blocked better tonight.”
Camille Schaffer led the Mustangs with eight kills, four blocks and an ace.
“She had a heck of a match,” Davis said. “She was dominant at the net in that third set.”
Also for the Mustangs, Sophie Smith had five kills, four service points, two digs and one ace; Lara Patterson added three blocks, eight assists, four digs and one kill; and Parker Wink had three digs.
“Lara played some great defense,” Davis said. “Parker was all over the place. Her stats weren’t indicative of how well she played. She had a great passing game.”
Wink also had eight service points.
Middletown plays a non-league match Wednesday at Colusa before returning home Thursday to play Kelseyville in a league match.Clear Lake’s scheduled league match Thursday with Lower Lake has been postponed because a Lower Lake player tested positive for COVID-19.
In junior varsity action, Clear Lake posted a 25-19, 25-20 win behind nine kills and four aces from Camrin Pivniska, 12 assists from Amber Smart, and the back row play of Quincy Paarsch.
“She covered that whole back row,” Psalmonds said of Paarsch.
Upper Lake def. Credo
At Rohnert Park, the Upper Lake Cougars made quick work of Credo in the NCL II opener for both teams, winning 25-17, 25-11, 25-15.
Seven Upper Lake players participated in last week’s Lake County Fair showing animals and missed a handful of practices leading up to the team’s league opener. However, with the exception of the first set the Cougars (1-0) were pretty much on their game, according to head coach Dani Paige Gudmundson Pena.
“They were exhausted,” Gudmundson Pena said of her FFA and 4-H players. “We made some silly mistakes in the first set, but we played pretty well.”
Upper Lake had a big night at the service line led by Dena Loans Arrow with six aces and Zoey Petrie with five. Rylee Dalton also did well from the line, according to Gudmundson Pena.
“Dena also had some amazing net play,” Gudmundson Pena said. “I’m very proud of her.”
Petrie had a big night all the way around. In addition to her five aces, the senior had five kills, six digs and 12 assists.
“Everyone off the bench got to play,” Gudmundson Pena said.
The Cougars return home Thursday to play Calistoga in a league match.
Upper Lake won the JV match 25-12, 25-2 behind 20 aces from Maria Sanchez, who served 19 straight points in the second set, 17 of them aces.
“The girls played great from the service line tonight,” Upper Lake coach Fawn Rave said. “Everyone was excited to be back on the road and they were ready to play.”
Other Upper Lake leaders were Jaydyn Poe with five aces, Kyliah Wipple with three aces, Jordann Gudmundson with two aces and two kills, and Treasure Hodges with two kills.
“The girls are looking forward to our home game Thursday,” Rave said of the Cougars’ next match against Calistoga.
Fort Bragg def. Willits
At Fort Bragg, it’s the Mendocino County equivalent of the Clear Lake vs. Kelseyville rivalry when Fort Bragg and Willits cross paths. This time it was all Fort Bragg as the Timberwolves turned back the Wolverines 25-16, 25-22, 25-17 to improve to a NCL I-best 5-0.
“They live to play us,” Fort Bragg head coach Kim Mertle said of the Wolverines (1-4). “I always get nervous playing them. I think they only want to beat us.”
Maddie Triplett’s powered the Timberwovles as she logged four aces, four kills and nine digs.
“It was a good overall game by all,” Mertle said of her players.
Fort Bragg won the JV match 25-5, 25-11.
The Timberwolves play Roseland University Prep (4-0) in a first-place showdown Thursday in Santa Rosa.
“Huge,” Mertle said of the match. “Hopefully we can bring our A game.”
RUP at Lower Lake, ppd.
At Lower Lake, Lower Lake’s scheduled NCL I match Tuesday against visiting Roseland University Prep (4-0) of Santa Rosa was postponed after a Lower Lake player tested positive for COVID-19. Because of the 10-day quarantine period, Lower Lake’s match Thursday against Clear Lake is also postponed.
It’s the second time this season the Trojans (0-2) have postponed league matches because of COVID-19. Matches against Middletown (Aug. 24) and Kelseyville (Aug. 26) also were wiped out.
St. Helena at K’ville, ppd.
At Kelseyville, a scheduled NCL I match between Kelseyville (0-2) and the visiting St. Helena Saints (0-2) was postponed because of a power outage in the Kelseyville area. The match will be rescheduled later this season.
