Knights run into tough competition at Rancho Cotate Tournament
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ROHNERT PARK >> Kelseyville High School’s boys volleyball team had all it could handle Saturday during the Rancho Cotate Tournament in Rohnert Park.
Kelseyville fell 25-11, 25-7 to Tamalpais, 25-13, 25-8 to Nevada Union, and 25-13, 25-14, to Balboa.
“To recap the morning, we improved as the morning went on,” Kelseyville head coach Kc White said. “The first match against Tamalpais was a slog. We were asleep out there and failed to do anything right. Our second match was against the best team in our group (Nevada Union) and we played pretty well all things considered. I was happy that we turned the energy and effort up a few notches from the first match. The final match in the morning group play was against Balboa. We battled them hard.”
Added White, “The purpose of attending this tournament was not to win, and some may thing that’s weird, but the goal is to get them reps against quality competition to get them ready for our league schedule,” White said of his players. “The competition in our group was top notch. The schools we faced in the morning are double, almost triple our size, and with tons of volleyball experience. We learned a lot and will use this to guide us this season.”
Kelseyville played an unofficial one-set match later in the day against Rancho Cotate, losing 25-19.
Andon Beall finished the tournament with a team-best 12 kills on 25 arm swings and only two errors. Diego Rico added 17 digs and nine assists, and Jose Mejia had 11 digs.
“The unsung hero today was Izeah Ely,” White said. “I thought he gave me the most energy, heart and hustle out there among everyone on the team. He deserves high praise for staying upbeat throughout the day.”
Kelseyville hosts Roseland University Pre on Monday in a North Central League I match. Action begins at 6 p.m.
