Middletown jumps back into thick of NCL I race with win over Cloverdale
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MIDDLETOWN >> It just goes to show what a little bit of home cooking can do.
Playing at the Tallman Gymnasium for the first time this season because of renovations that forced Middletown High School’s varsity volleyball team to play all of its matches on the road until Thursday night, the Mustangs swept their way back into the North Central League I race with a big 25-19, 27-25, 25-23 win over the first-place Cloverdale Eagles.
By beating the same Cloverdale team that beat them in three sets Sept. 10 in Cloverdale to open their league schedule, the Mustangs improved to 5-3 in the standings and moved to within 1 ½ games of the Eagles (7-2). Right behind Cloverdale is Kelseyville (6-2) and St. Helena (6-2) followed by Fort Bragg (5-3) and Middletown.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the league race, several factors certainly work to the Mustangs’ favor. First of all, they play all six of their remaining matches at home, including key contests against Kelseyville (next Tuesday), Fort Bragg (Oct. 15) an St. Helena (Oct. 17). Also, several of the teams currently ahead of the Mustangs in the standings play each other down the stretch, which should create for an exciting finish. One such match is St. Helena at Cloverdale next Tuesday.
“Captain Makayla Mace coined our team cheer tonight, ‘outwork,’ they did that,” Middletown head coach Erika Galvan said. “They hustled, played smart and aggressive.”
On finally playing before the home fans, Galvan said it made all the difference in the world.
“Overall, the energy was great. We hadn’t stepped inside our gym until this afternoon. Having our home gym and our fans helped push these girls to win.”
Galvan improved to 3-0 since taking over the team following the unexpected resignation of former head coach Norberto Quiroz on Sept. 25, and the Mustangs haven’t lost a since.
“There were moments when we would fall behind, but they fought back,” Galvan said of the team’s win over Cloverdale. The girls worked to read Cloverdale’s offense. The biggest change was being aggressive with our serves.”
Mia Hoogendoorn, a senior, led the team with 12 service points, of which four were aces.
“She was hitting the right spots tonight,” Galvan said.
Jaylee Doris also gave Middletown a lift from the service line with 10 service points and four more aces.
Makayla Mace, Jordyn Harbison and Isa Barnes all contributed five service points apiece.
“Cloverdale had great defense, we were hitting the ball hard, and they kept digging things up,” Galvan said.
Up front for the Mustangs, Hoogendoorn, Mace and Carly Johnson each had seven kills followed by Harley Holley with six more. Barnes, the team’s sophomore setter, finished with 26 assists.
“Isa Barnes worked to dish out sets to every attacker,” Galvan said.
Middletown’s junior varsity squad also came away with a straight-set win, 25-22, 25-19.
“Serving was the most important thing tonight,” Galvan said. “We had fewer errors than previous games, and that kept our tempo.”
Hannah Tribby, Emma Jones and Samantha Maccario had eight service points apiece, and Maccario had four aces. Bridget Lisenbee led the team with 13 assists while Jones and Izzi Hoogendoorn each had four kills. Tribby and Casi Padilla finished with three kills apiece.
Kelseyville, which like Cloverdale defeated Middletown in the first half of league play, visits Middletown on Tuesday. JV action begins at 5 p.m.
