RICHMOND — Upper Lake High School’s volleyball team went down fighting in a 25-19, 25-21, 25-13 loss to the Salesian Pride in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 5 volleyball playoffs Tuesday night in Richmond.
“It was back and forth in the first and second sets,” Upper Lake head coach Dani Paige Gudmundson Pena said. “The energy in the first two sets was awesome. Both teams played really well.”
Upper Lake (13-12), the No. 11 seed, was hoping to pull off the upset against a No. 6-seeded Salesian squad that advances to the quarterfinals Saturday against No. 3 seed The Bay School of San Francisco.
“We got lazy in the third set,” Gudmundson Pena said. “We started playing well near the end but it was too late.”
Madison Noble closed out her high school volleyball career with 19 assists, seven service points and five kills. Three other seniors — Taylar Minnis, Rylee Dalton and Nathaly Velasco — also turned in solid play, according to Gudmundson Pena.
“Noble had a good night, Minnis had a great night on the net and Nathaly did awesome,” Gudmundson Pena said. “I’m really going to miss her next year … I’m going to miss all of my seniors.”
Minnis finished with seven kills and five blocks, Dalton had three kills and five points, and Velasco added four kills and four points.
Also for Upper Lake, Jordann Gudmundson had six kills, four blocks and two assists.
Called up to the varsity for the playoffs, Ashlyn Wurm also received some court time.
“I was very, very happy with her play,” Gudmundson Pena said.
“We enjoyed it,” Gudmundson Pena said of the playoff experience.
Upper Lake finished third in the North Central League II standings this season with a 10-4 record.
