Cougars, Mustangs score road victories in NCL I volleyball action
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KELSEYVILLE >> If Maddy Borghesani, Liberty Lewis, AJ Wurm, Bella Patti and Mati Mateer never play on their home court again, it’s fair to say they’ve given the Kelseyville Knights maximum effort for the past four seasons.
Kelseyville’s five seniors were honored Thursday night as the Knights hosted Clear Lake in a North Central League I varsity volleyball match, the final home match of the regular season. While Kelseyville, which is on the verge of winning a second straight league title, could end up playing at home in the postseason, there’s no guarantee of that, even less now that the North Coast Section has switched to a “competitive equity seeding” system for the playoffs.
In any event, Kelseyville rolled out the red carpet for its seniors while also honoring a name that is synonymous with Knights volleyball, former longtime head coach Larry Bresso who now serves as an assistant to head coach Donelle McCallister.
After the pre-match introductions, the Knights took care of business as usual, sweeping Clear Lake 25-14, 25-12, 25-9 to improve to 12-0 in the league standings. It’s the 10th time in their 11 contested league matches that the Knights have swept the competition, the only exception being a five-set win at home earlier this season against Cloverdale (11-1), the team the Knights face Tuesday in Cloverdale with the league title hanging in the balance.
“Adrenaline was a little high at first with the crowd, and it being senior night,” McCallister said. “After a set they began to settle down.”
Though Kelseyville’s serving wasn’t as good as it could have been, McCallister said the Knights compensated.
“We missed a few too many serves but made up the points through attacks and defense,” she said.
Wurm and Patti each had 13 digs while Patti also finished with six kills. Borghesani contributed 18 assists, and Mateer added seven kills and three aces among the honored seniors. Sophomore Riley Hanson contributed 15 assists and seven kills.
Clear Lake fell to 2-10 in league play. Individual stats were not available.
Kelseyville’s junior varsity team beat Clear Lake 25-9, 27-25 to clinch no worse than a share of the league title for a second year in a row. The Knights need only win one of their two remaining matches to claim the undisputed championship.
“The girls cruised in the first set,” McCallister said. “The second set they missed way too many serves and got caught on their heels on defense. We had to come from behind several times and finally got the second set at the end.”
Kelseyville was without one of its top players, Grace Peterson, who had her wisdom teeth removed. Gabby Keyes replaced her at libero and finished with 12 digs.
“She did a really nice job,” McCallister said.
Three well-time aces by Bella Farfan Boyles helped the Knights prevail in the second set.
Other Kelseyville leaders were Olivia Arredondo and Paelynn Beall, both with seven kills, Brooklyn Young with 14 assists, and Quinn Seifert with three kills.
In other NCL I action Thursday:
Upper Lake def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, Upper Lake snapped a two-match losing streak with a 25-13, 25-10, 25-17 win over the Lower Lake Trojans.
“Not a bad game for the Lady Cougars tonight,” Upper Lake head coach Dani Paige Gudmundson said. “We played three consistent sets, and Lower Lake came ready with some great defensive plays throughout. There were a lot of fun rallies and solid moments on both sides of the net.”
Added Gudmundson, “Our team showed great energy and chemistry, an every player scored at least one point for the Lady Cougars. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Upper Lake (5-7) was led by Camila Martin with 13 service points and 17 assists, Alyssa John with 11 digs, eight kills, five blocks, eight service points and four aces, and Aimee Schaefers with 14 kills, one block and six digs. Also for the Cougars, Rylee Jones had 11 service points while Ava Witter contribute seven service points and seven digs.”
“It was one of those games where, looking back, we wish we had done a few things differently,” Lower Lake head coach Vikki Poni said. “At this point in the season losses like this are tough, but they’re also opportunities to learn and grow.”
Lower Lake did not report any individual statistics.
Upper Lake also won the JV match, 25-14, 25-21. The Cougars improved to 7-5 in league play and can finish with a winning record if they can win one of their two remaining league matches.
“Everyone had a great game tonight working together,” Upper Lake head coach Fawn Rave said.
Jordyn Parker and Lizzie Fernandez finished with nine kills apiece. Parker also had seven service points, two aces, three digs and one assist. Other team leaders were Kenzie Foley with 10 digs, eight assists, one kill and one ace. Karime Martin finished with 13 assists, seven service points and two aces.
Lower Lake statistics were not reported.
Middletown def. St. Helena
At St. Helena, Middletown climbed back to the .500 mark in the league standings (6-6) with a four-set win over the St. Helena Saints, 24-26, 25-18, 25-19, 25-23.
Harley Holley and Carly Johnson, both seniors, led the Mustangs up front. Johnson had 13 kills and three blocks to go along with 17 digs, four service points and one ace, an Holley added 11 kills, six blocks, 11 service points and five aces.
“Harley and Carly played their best games tonight,” Middletown head coach Erika Galvan said. “They were smart and aggressive. Harley came alive with her blocks, and that energy propelled some great swings. Carly also had some quick, powerful hits and her net play with touches and blocks was incredible.”
Other Middletown leaders were Bridget Lisenbee with a season-best 18 assists. She also had 10 service points, two aces, 13 digs and two kills. Sami Maccario added 11 digs, 10 service points and one ace, Brenna Goodloe had six kills, Jordyn Harbison finished with 16 digs and one ace, Hailey Williams had seven digs, three kills and one ace, and Trinity Galvan contributed 16 digs, 15 service points, nine assists and four kills.
“Both of our setters were doing pretty well feeding out attackers,” Galvan said. “Our passes were much better tonight as well. I’m very proud of how well our team played tonight. It has been a rough week with things going the wrong way. We’ve also been without a strong piece of our puzzle, Izzi Hoogendoor, as she has been under the weather for the last three games.”
Middletown closes its regular season with league matches against Upper Lake (Tuesday) and Clear Lake (Thursday).
Middletown’s JVs beat St. Helena 25-10, 25-17 to clinch no worse than a second-place finish in the league standings.
Outside hitter Emma Davis led the Mustangs (10-2) with 10 kills on 25 arm swings and only two hitting errors. She also had six digs, three aces and two assists. Middle blocker Jolene Holley also was efficient up front, logging four kills with no hitting errors on 12 arm swings.
Other team leaders were setter Hannah Tribby with 12 assists, six service points, two kills and two digs, and opposite hitter Chloe Pulido with seven digs, six service points, two aces, three assists and one kill.
“We played a perfect first set, not committing a single hitting error,” Middletown head coach Vanessa Davis said. “It was beautiful to watch.”
Added Davis, “St. Helena did not go down without a fight, digging up most hits, which gave us more opportunity to play defense and get off some dominant swings. Emma Davis and Jolene Holley were absolute beasts at the net. They were going up with power and landing some beautiful kills.”
