Clear Lake drops first set, rallies past Lower Lake in league action
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UPPER LAKE >> The Middletown Mustangs are starting to get this five-set thing down.
Playing their third straight five-set match in North Central League I play, the Mustangs survived to beat the Upper Lake Cougars 25-19, 15-25, 18-25, 25-20, 15-13 on Thursday night in Upper Lake.
After dropping a five-set match to Fort Bragg last week at home, the Mustangs beat St. Helena in five sets at home Tuesday before again going the distance Thursday against Upper Lake. Unlike the Fort Bragg and St. Helena matches during which Middletown won each of the first two sets, the Mustangs trailed two sets to one against the Cougars.
“Harley Holley moved to the middle in the fourth set to shake things up,” Middletown head coach Erika Galvan said. “Hailey Williams also came up clutch.”
Holley finished with four kills, two blocks and nine service points while Williams contributed nine kills, 14 digs and four aces.
No one did more for Middletown (3-3) in the win than senior Carly Johnson, who finished with 17 kills, 21 digs, eight service points, three aces and one block.
“She worked really hard tonight,” Galvan said of Johnson.
Another big contributor was Bridget Lisenbee with 24 assists, 17 digs, 14 service points, seven aces and five kills, and Trinity Galvan added 23 digs.
“What a match!” Upper Lake head coach Dani Paige Gudmundson said. “The Lady Cougars battled hard against Middletown, taking the game to five sets before falling just short.”
Upper Lake held a small lead midway through the fourth set before Middletown rallied, and the Cougars nearly came back from a 14-6 deficit in the fifth and deciding set.
“Even though the win slipped away, I couldn’t be prouder of the effort and energy on the court tonight,” Gudmundson said. “The girls played with grit, the teamwork was strong, and the home crowd was incredible. We truly looked like ourselves again and are excited to carry this into homecoming week.”
Camila Martin led the Cougars with 32 assists and 14 service points while Alyssa John and Aimee Schaefers also came up big. John finished with 19 digs, 12 service points, 11 kills and seven blocks while Schaefers added 24 kills, 13 blocks, 23 digs and six service points.
Also for Upper Lake, Ava Witter had 15 digs and eight service points, and Kiri McCutcheon added 21 digs and 10 service points.
Middletown closes out the first half of its league schedule Tuesday in Lakeport against Clear Lake while Upper Lake travels to St. Helena.
Middletown also won the junior varsity match, 25-19, 25-18.
Chloe Pulido, making her first start at opposite hitter, came up big with 12 service points, including four aces, four digs, two kills and one assist.
“Chloe Pulido stepped in huge tonight, playing opposite for the first time this season,” Middletown head coach Vanessa Davis said. “She did great backing up our setter and was aggressive hitting at the net. She is a great all-around player.”
Emma Davis served nine points with six aces, had eight kills and five digs, and Grace Williams logged four kills with one block. She also had three digs and three service points.
Also for Middletown (5-1), Hannah Tribby had 14 assists, two kills and two digs, and Emma Jones finished with nine service points, four aces, three digs and one kill.
“We struggled a bit against Upper Lake’s great server (Jordyn Parker) but were able to maintain our lead throughout the match,” Davis said.
Parker finished with eight aces, four digs, three kills and three blocks for Upper Lake (3-3).
“We struggle with quick reactions, but we will continue to work on it,” Upper Lake head coach Fawn Rave said. “The girls never gave up; we just couldn’t get the win tonight.”
In other NCL I volleyball action Thursday:
Clear Lake def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, Clear Lake (2-4) rallied from a first-set loss to beat the Trojans 14-25, 25-14, 27-25, 25-19, turning back a strong effort by the Trojans (0-6).
“Proud is an understatement,” Lower Lake head coach Vikki Poni said of her team’s play. “My girls left everything on the court and worked their butt off.”
Khaya Chaney finished with four kills and one block while Jamiya Lee-Ayers had three kills and a block. Haile McRae chipped in with four service points.
Poni also praised the service of Brooke Watson and Leticia Sorrells.
“They had some crucial serves for us,” Poni said.
“Everybody just played amazing,” Poni added.
Clear Lake statistics were not reported.
Clear Lake won the junior varsity match. Set scores and statistics were not reported.
Clear Lake hosts Middletown on Tuesday to close out the first half of the league schedule. Lower Lake hits the road to play Cloverdale.
