LAKEPORT — Colusa middle hitter Karsyn Gwinnup’s 16 kills helped rally the RedHawks from a first-set loss to a 17-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-21 upset victory over Clear Lake on Tuesday night in the opening round of the NorCal bracket of the CIF State Volleyball Championships at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport.
While it was technically an upset as Colusa (25-10) entered play as the 14th seed to Clear Lake’s No. 3, the RedHawks are not 14-seed material, which the Cardinals and head coach Marci Psalmonds knew all too well after dropping their season opener at Colusa way back on Aug. 16, also in four sets.
“Maybe a No. 8 seed, but not 14,” Psalmonds said. “I’m not sure how that happened. We’re pretty evenly matched. They were making the mistakes early and we took advantage, and then we were making the mistakes and they took advantage.”
While Colusa’s offense — which is largely split between Gwinnup, senior outside hitter Carly Simmons (10 kills) and junior outside hitter Elle Faris (eight kills) — never really showed itself in the first set, Clear Lake’s offense was pretty much a no-show the entire night, according to Psalmonds.
“Our defense was actually better, but we couldn’t produce on offense,” Psalmonds said. “We didn’t play our best match, we weren’t ripping the ball like we normally do.”
Colusa offense picked up steam as the match went along. By the third and fourth sets, the RedHawks’ hitters were pounding it at Clear Lake with everything they had.
Psalmonds said she sensed the Cardinals (30-5), the North Central League I runner-up this season and North Coast Section Division 5 semifinalists, were a bit off from the start.
“We were tight,” she said. “We weren’t taking our full swings as if we were afraid to make a mistake, but we ended up making mistakes anyway. Winning the set might have been the worse thing for us because we kind of let down.”
Senior outside hitter Stella Hill finished with a team-best nine kills for Clear Lake but also had as many hitting errors while senior middle hitter Abby Mertle added seven kills and three blocks.
Clear Lake pulled away to win the first set, breaking it open after trading points with the RedHawks early on. Colusa did the same thing in the second and third sets – scoring 10 of the final 14 points in the set two, and 12 of the final 17 in set three.
The Cardinals dug themselves a 9-3 hole in the fourth set but mounted a nice rally to push in front 16-13, with some stellar play off the bench by Maddy Brewster, who picked up two quick kills.
“She came in and did her job,” Psalmonds said of Brewster, a senior middle blocker. “She played well.”
Clear Lake held 17-16 and 19-18 leads before Colusa pushed in front to stay. After a Quincy Paarsch kill for Clear Lake cut the RedHawks’ lead to 21-20, Colusa extended its lead out to 24-21. The match ended when a hard Faris kill attempt grazed the net and fell to the floor in front of a diving Clear Lake player, who couldn’t save it.
A senior-dominated team — six of Clear Lake’s eight regulars were seniors this season — the Cardinals put that veteran talent to good use in 2022.
“We had a great season,” Psalmonds said. “It just sucks to lose your last game, but every team is going to do that (unless you win the state title). That’s what I told my seniors. The NorCals are huge, so it hurts a little bit more. It’s hard to get here.”
While the Cardinals didn’t do much on offense, their defense racked up a high number of digs, including a team-best 30 by senior setter Sierra Bruch and 15 more from junior libero Amber Smart. Bruch also had 13 service points.
“Sierra and Amber both played well,” Psalmonds said. “So did Montana (Wells).”
The Cardinals return next season with a much younger team. Smart and Camryn Pivniska (who missed nearly the entire 2022 campaign with an injury) will be the only seniors. Paarsch, a sophomore, also returns. They’ll be joined by Atiana Patino and Emily Gersalia, who moved up from the junior varsity team for the playoffs, as well as other JV starters this season, including Kaylah Billig.
