Lady Knights, varsity and JV, close out perfect half in league play with 7-0 records
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KELSEYVILLE >> Following a dramatic five-set win Thursday night against the Cloverdale Eagles, a match pairing the last two undefeated teams in the North Central League I standings, the Kelseyville Knights faced another first-place battle Tuesday at home against the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
This one had no such drama as Kelseyville completed a perfect first half in league play with a 25-9, 25-16, 25-20 victory over the Timberwolves that wasn’t remotely contested until the third set.
“We weren’t sharp, but we were sharp enough,” Kelseyville head coach Donelle McCallister said of the Knights’ seventh league win in as many matches this season. “We had some energy coming off the Cloverdale match. Fort Bragg was ready to come back and get us (in the third set).”
While the Knights had a few too many hitting errors to suit McCallister, the team didn’t let many balls hit the floor. Senior libero AJ Wurm had 23 digs while teammate Bella Patti had 15 more. Mati Mateer had another strong game on the net with 11 kills while Riley Hanson added six. Maddy Borghesani led the team with 18 assists.
Kelseyville set the tone early, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first set. Wurm stepped to the service line with the Knights up 1-0 and served nine straight points, her first but not last run at the service line during the match. She led the Knights with five aces.
Kelseyville, the defending league champion, opens the second half of league play at home Thursday against Lower Lake (0-7).
Kelseyville’s junior varsity squad also finished the first half 7-0 with a 25-9, 25-5 win over Fort Bragg. Team leaders were Gabby Keyes with four aces, Grace Peterson with 14 digs, Olivia Arredondo with six kills, and Brooklyn Young with nine assists.
In other NCL I volleyball action Tuesday:
Middletown def. Clear Lake
At Lakeport, this one didn’t go five sets and that was just fine with Middletown head coach Erika Galvan as the Middletown Mustangs needed only three competitive sets to beat the Clear Lake Cardinals, Middletown’s third straight league victory.
Middletown (4-3) had gone five sets in each of its previously three league matches, a streak Galvan was happy to end.
“Really glad we finished in three sets tonight,” Galvan said.
Among the Middletown standouts were Carly Johnson with nine kills and two blocks, Jordyn Harbison with 16 digs and nine service points, Bridget Lisenbee with 10 service points, two aces and six assists, and Trinity Galvan with 17 digs and 13 assists.
“We did not let up tonight,” Galvan said. “We kept chipping away for each point. We had some very good rallies with scrappy play on both sides of the net.”
Middletown will need to up its game beginning Thursday in Cloverdale to open the second half of its league schedule, according to Galvan.
“We missed too many serves tonight,” she said. “We can’t do that against the next teams that we play (Cloverdale and Kelseyville).”
Aniya Jauregui and Faith McIntire led the Cardinals (2-5) with six kills apiece and Triniti Kuecker had five. Atiana Patino finished with 14 digs.
Middletown’s JVs beat Clear Lake 25-20, 15-25, 15-12 to finish the first half of league play at 6-1, just one game behind Kelseyville atop the league standings.
Emma Davis finished with 10 kills and six digs while Chloe Pulido had another big service night with 11 points, including five aces.
“Clear Lake gave us a run tonight,” Middletown head coach Vanessa Davis said. “Emma Davis came up big with her swings, which kept us in the game.”
Grace Williams served up an ace on match point. She had three kills and two aces during the match.
“She had a great defensive day, passing up some good hits,” Davis said of Williams.
Middletown setter Hannah Tribby finished with 12 assists.
“Overall, we did enough to come out with the win,” Davis said.
Kiara Hopkins’ eight kills led the Cardinals. Macie Snider added four kills, and Aliya Valadez had three aces.
“We had strong setting by our two setters, Ava Gamble and Gurleen Kaur,” Clear Lake head coach Norberto Quiroz said.
Upper Lake def. St. Helena
At St. Helena, despite dropping the first set, the Upper Lake Cougars roared back to defeat the St. Helena Saints 23-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-20.
“We worked through some kinks in the first set, but in the next three we played strong,” Upper Lake head coach Dani Paige Gudmundson said. “We let a couple points slip away here and there, but the girls adjusted, locked in and played at the level we’ve been working toward. Homecoming week is definitely bringing the energy, and we’re looking forward to our homecoming game against Fort Bragg on Thursday.”
Alyssa John and Aimee Schaefers provided the Cougars with a potent one-two punch up front. Johnson finished with 17 kills and five blocks while Schaefers added 15 kills and 11 blocks. John also had 19 digs.
Other Upper Lake leaders were Camila Martin with 12 service points and 22 aces, and Schaefers with seven service points and five aces.
“Alyssa and Aimee are proving to be quite the force on the net,” Gudmundson said.
Upper Lake (2-5) opens the second half of its league schedule Thursday at home against Fort Bragg (5-2).
St. Helena won the JV match, rallying for a 25-27, 25-16, 15-13 victory.
Upper Lake trailed 22-16 in the first set before pulling out the victory.
Match leaders for the Cougars were Jordyn Parker with five kills, two blocks, six service points and six digs, Kylee Solorio with 14 digs, six assists and two aces, and Kenzie Foley with 12 digs, three kills and one ace.
“We went all three sets and I’m proud of the girls for never giving up,” Upper Lake head coach Fawn Rave said.
Cloverdale def. Lower Lake
At Cloverdale, the Lower Lake Trojans (0-7) didn’t put up much of a fight in a 25-12, 25-10, 25-14 loss to the Cloverdale Eagles (6-1), who were coming off a five-set road loss to Kelseyville last week.
“Tough night for the varsity team,” Lower Lake head coach Vikki Poni said. “We left the magic at home tonight, and it showed. We lost all three sets and didn’t play to our full potential. It’s clear we have some key areas to work on, both individually and as a team.”
Added Poni, “This group has the talent, we just need to come together, stay focused and put in the work. We’ll use this loss as motivation to grow stronger. The season’s not over, and we’re not done yet.”
Cloverdale defeated Lower Lake in three sets in the JV match (all set scores were not available).
Lower Lake (0-7) won the second set 27-25.
The Trojans hit the road Thursday to play the first-place Kelseyville varsity and JV squads. JV action begins at 5 p.m.