ARCATA — One point away from elimination in their first match of the playoff round Saturday, the Clear Lake High School varsity volleyball team came all the way back to win the Arcata Tournament in dramatic fashion at Arcata High School.
After beating all three of their pool opponent in straight sets – Eureka 25-21, 25-21, Etna 25-14, 27-25 and Hoopa 25-13, 25-13 – the Cardinals found themselves on the brink of elimination in their first playoff-round match against Fortuna. Clear Lake won the first set 27-25 and lost the second set 26-24. In the deciding third set, the Huskies led 14-9 before the Cardinals rallied for seven straight points to stave off elimination.
“We were the only undefeated team coming out of pool play,” Clear Lake head coach Marci Psalmonds said. “But I was like, ‘Well, one more point and we’re going home.’”
Psalmonds called a timeout to rally her team and the Cardinals responded by winning the match and moving on to the semifinals against Willows where they won another nailbiter, 26-25, 19-25, 16-14. Against Willows, senior setter Sierra Bruch, already playing on one sprained ankle entering the tournament, hurt the other ankle in the third set with the Cardinals again trailing, this time 13-12.
“She wouldn’t come out, she said ‘I’m fine,’” Psalmonds said. “She wasn’t going to leave the floor.”
In the championship match against Yreka, Clear Lake prevailed 25-22, 22-25, 15-12, erasing a 10-8 deficit in the third set. Clear Lake battled back to tie it at 12-12 and then won the final three points, clinching the championship on Rubi Ford’s ace on set point.
“Those last three matches were crazy,” Psalmonds said of the playoff wins over Fortuna, Willows and Yreka. “Those are all good teams.”
While Psalmonds has previously coached both Clear Lake and Upper Lake teams to the Arcata Tournament title, she said she couldn’t remember a more dramatic victory by one of her squads.
“The team rallied and really came together,” Psalmonds said. “Our motto is never say die and they showed it this weekend.”
While the tourney title was a team effort, according to Psalmonds, certain players stepped up big in the three playoff-round wins. Against Fortuna it was middle hitter Abby Mertle with 11 kills on 21 arm swings. Against Willows it was libero Amber Smart with 26 digs, and against Yreka it was Mertle again with 12 kills, 10 service points, six digs and two aces.
For the entire tournament, Mertle finished with 43 kills and only nine hitting errors. She also had eight blocks.
“She did great,” Psalmonds said.
Bruch racked up 123 assists and 65 digs, Ford contributed 42 service points, seven aces and 39 digs, and Smart had 79 digs, 37 points, six aces and only four service errors. Quincy Paarsch added 42 kils, 52 digs and six aces while Montana Wells had 10 kills and five blocks.
Psalmonds said the emphasis she puts on conditioning paid big dividends for the Cardinals.
“After 15 actual sets we were tired, but not as tired as the other teams,” Psalmonds said. “That’s a long day.”
Clear Lake, now 18-2 on the season, hits the road Tuesday to play Kelseyville in a North Central League I match.
