UPPER LAKE — Led by the play of setter Sierra Bruch and middle hitter Abby Mertle, both seniors, the Clear Lake Cardinals completed a perfect day on the volleyball court Friday by beating Anderson Valley 25-13, 25-18 in the championship match of the second annual Cougar Invitational at Upper Lake High School.
Clear Lake not only won all five of its matches, but the Cardinals (6-1) prevailed in the minimum two sets against Upper Lake, Middletown, Kelseyville and Anderson Valley, then again against Anderson Valley in the championship match.
Kelseyville defeated Middletown for third place, 21-25, 25-20, 16-14.
Bruch was the tournament’s MVP, according to Clear Lake head coach Marci Psalmonds, and Mertle turned in All-Tourney-caliber performance as well.
“Abby really played well on offense and had some very hard kills,” Psalmonds said of the championship match against Anderson Valley. “Sierra was hustling all over the court and keeping the team going throughout the day.”
Bruch finished with 23 assists in the championship match while Mertle registered 11 kills. Quincy Paarsch added nine kills, libero Amber Smart had eight digs, and Rubi Ford collected 15 points at the service line.
Clear Lake opened the round-robin portion of tournament play with a 25-16, 25-10 victory over Anderson Valley behind five digs from Smart and five aces from Paarsch. The Cardinals followed that up with a 25-19, 25-21 win over Middletown as Bruch had 25 assists. The kills were spread around between Mertle and Stella Hill, each with seven, and Paarsch with six.
The Cardinals picked up their final two round-robin wins against Kelseyville, 25-18, 25-18, and Upper Lake, 25-9, 25-11. In the win over Kelseyville, Bruch had 16 assists and Hill led the way with six kills. Against Upper Lake, who the Cardinals beat on Thursday night in a non-league match at Lakeport, Bruch collected 16 assists, Hill had six kills, and Smart finished with seven digs.
Clear Lake hits the road Tuesday to play Anderson Valley again, this time in a non-league match at Boonville.
Middletown
While Middletown settled for fourth place after going 2-2 in round-robin play and eventually losing to Kelseyville in the third-place match, head coach Vanessa Davis said her team’s five matches in one day should definitely go a long way toward preparing the Mustangs for their North Central League I opener Tuesday at home against Lower Lake.
Davis feels Middletown can be a factor in this year’s NCL I race.
“Our goal is playoffs,” Davis said of her senior-dominated squad.
The Mustangs opened round-robin play by beating Kelseyville 17-25, 25-11, 15-10, but they fell 25-18, 25-22 to eventual tournament champ Clear Lake in their next match. Middletown bounced back with a 24-26, 25-17, 15-10 win over Anderson Valley before falling 25-23, 26-24 to Upper Lake.
On match point against Upper Lake two of Middletown’s top players, senior libero Jaidyn Brown and senior outside hitter Skylar Williams, collided and hit the floor hard, according to Davis.
“Both were on the ground for awhile,” Davis said. “It was scary. They both had twisted ankles but should be fine.”
Middletown didn’t get a break during its four round-robin matches, according to Davis.
“We played four straight and maybe had like three minutes between matches,” she said.
The Mustangs went to the maximum three sets three times — including twice against Kelseyville — and locked up in a number of long rallies during the tournament, producing some very tired players by the end of the day.
Davis said her two standouts, by far, were Brown and Williams. Brown finished with 91 digs on the day while Williams had a tournament total of of 55 digs, 39 service points, 19 kills and 14 aces.
“Both of them were great,” Davis said.
Davis also praised the play of senior opposite hitter/setter Ella Sust (29 assists, 21 digs, 16 kills), senior middle hitter Camille Schaffer (24 kills), junior middle hitter Cora Holley (26 points, 22 kills, 11 aces, four blocks) and setter Parker Wink (32 points, 31 assists, 15 aces).
The junior varsity portion of the Cougar Invitational takes place all day Saturday at the Upper Lake gym.
