Battle of 5-0 teams goes to Kelseyville in North Central League I marathon match
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KELSEYVILLE >> In a match as airtight as Kelseyville’s 25-14, 16-25, 21-25, 25-20, 15-8 win over Cloverdale was on Thursday, a North Central League I varsity volleyball marathon pairing the league’s only two undefeated teams, Knights head coach Donelle McCallister said the razor-thin difference between the two teams was crystal clear to her.
“Bella, AJ and Liberty,” McCallister said with no hesitation, meaning Bella Patti, AJ Wurm and Liberty Lewis. “They were the wall. They were all over the place digging up everything.”
Added McCallister of Patti, Wurm and Lewis, “Those girls passed the heck out of the ball. “They were passing and digging up some big hits.”
Kelseyville hadn’t dropped a single set in league play until running into Cloverdale, which won both the second and third sets to put the Knights on the brink in the best-of-five match.
“Margaret has a really talented team,” McCallister said of longtime Cloverdale head coach Margaret Fitzgerald. “Cloverdale is really good. Hell yeah. That was a real volleyball match.”
Kelseyville, the defending league champion, still has to face Cloverdale one more time, Oct. 21 in Cloverdale. The Knights won’t have the home court advantage for that one, and that home court definitely helped Thursday, according to McCallister, who said her players had the backing of a good-sized and vocal rooting section.
The Knights piled up the statistics against the Eagles. Wurm finished with 27 digs and Lewis had 22, while Riley Hanson pounded out 15 kills to go along with 12 assists. Mati Mateer was right behind her with 12 kills as well as three blocks, and Madison Byrne, a freshman, contributed eight kills. Other leaders were Patti with a team-best six aces, and Maddy Borghesani with 23 assists.
McCallister said the Knights had a tough time handling Cloverdale’s service game, which almost was the difference in the match for the Eagles (5-1).
“Cloverdale’s serves are flat and hard,” McCallister said. “They are very difficult to handle.”
“It was a little hairy for the coach, but the girls did a great job of staying up even when they fell behind (two sets to one),” McCallister said. “They never got down.”
The Knights complete the first half of their league schedule Tuesday at home against Fort Bragg (5-1). Junior varsity action starts at 5 p.m.
Kelseyville’s JVs improved to a league-best 6-0 with a a 25-16, 25-14 win over Cloverdale. Brooklyn Young (12 assists), Bella Farfan-Boyles (10 digs, five aces) and Grace Peterson (18 digs) helped lead the way.
“Everybody got in,” McCallister said. “They are starting to improve as a team.”
