LAKEPORT — In a battle of two varsity volleyball teams looking to stay close to North Central League I leader RUP atop the standings, the Clear Lake Cardinals swept the Cloverdale Eagles 25-22, 25-19, 25-18 on Tuesday night in Lakeport.
Clear Lake (5-1) is tied with Fort Bragg (5-1), which was idle on Tuesday, for second place. RUP beat Middletown on Tuesday to improve to 7-0. Cloverdale dropped to 5-3.
“We got back into our hitting mode and it was nice to see,” Clear Lake head coach Marci Psalmonds said.
Sydney Howe led a balanced Clear Lake attack at the net with eight kills while Zoey Pepper finished with seven and Abby Mertle had six.
“Raina (Clifton) set the tone for us,” Psalmonds said of her libero’s service receive skills, which included only one error in 28 serves received.
The Cardinals also benefited from a strong passing game led by setters Sierra Bruch with 15 assists and Sydney Howe with 13. Mertle added a team-best three blocks and Howe had two aces.
“We finally played the way we should be playing,” Psalmonds said.
Camrin Pivniska stayed up with the varsity on Tuesday, which gave Psalmonds plenty of flexibility with her lineup.
“I was moving people all around and they were responding,” she said.
Clear Lake is home again Wednesday to play Lower Lake, a a match rescheduled from Sept. 9. The Cardinals have a bye Thursday.
In the junior varsity match Tuesday, Cloverdale beat Clear Lake 25-22, 27-25 despite four kills and eight digs from Rubi Ford, nine assists from Amber Smart, and 10 digs and two kills from Maddy Brewster.
In other volleyball action Tuesday:
Kelseyville def. Willits
At Willits, the Kelseyville Knights are in the win column in NCL I play after going the distance with the Willits Wolverines for a 22-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 15-5 victory.
Kaylei Davis had a big night at the net (team-best 13 kills) and at the service line (17 serves put into play with two aces) as the Knights improved to 1-5 in league play. Larue Furlani put 24 serves into play with two aces.
“That’s the best Wilits team I’ve seen since 2010,” Kelseyville head coach Donelle McCallister said.
The Wolverines’ struggles at the service line proved to be the difference in the match, according to McCallister, who said her players were pretty excited to come away with their first league victory.
Also contributing to the win were Emily Sandoval with 12 digs, Makaylah Meyer with 11 digs and Jayden Paulich with 16 assists.
Kelseyville’s JV squad also came away victorious, beating the Wolverines 25-19, 25-9 behind a strong service game from Brianna Davis, who had seven aces.
The Knights hit the road Thursday to play league leader Roseland University Prep in Santa Rosa.
RUP def. Middletown
At Santa Rosa, undefeated NCL I leader RUP beat the Middletown Mustangs 25-17, 25-15, 25-10 to remain undefeated at 7-0.
“RUP is pretty good, a scrappy team with a couple of good hitters,” Middletown head coach Vanessa Davis said. “But I’m surprised someone hasn’t beaten them yet. Now that I’ve seen them, I think someone is going to beat them.”
On a night when the Mustangs weren’t clicking at all, according to Davis, there weren’t many positive statistics. Kamryn Atkins, Camille Schaffer and Elena Sust all had two blocks apiece.
“We weren’t playing our best game,” Davis said. “Our passing was a little rough today. Our play was disjointed all the way around.”
Middletown’s next two matches are against the same team, the Lower Lake Trojans (0-3). The Mustangs host Lower Lake on Thursday and play at Lower Lake on Monday, a match that was rescheduled from Aug. 24.
In the JV match, RUP defeated Middletown in three sets (scores not reported).
St. Helena def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, back in action for the first time since Sept. 2 because of a COVID-19 quarantine that forced the Trojans to reschedule three NCL I matches, Lower Lake dropped a 25-12, 25-14, 25-17 decision to the St. Helena Saints.
Match statistics were not available Tuesday night.
St. Helena defeated Lower Lake 25-18, 25-15 in the JV match.
