Upper Lake, Middletown also pick up North victories as league season winds down
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WILLITS >> It wasn’t the most suspenseful league race ever, but the Kelseyville Knights clinched another in a long line of varsity volleyball championships for the school Tuesday night, beating the Willits Wolverines 25-5, 25-11, 25-13 in North Central League I North action in Willits.
It was a battle of teams at opposite ends of the standings as Kelseyville (9-0 league, 21-4) faced a rebuilding Willits squad (0-9) that hasn’t come close to winning in North play this season.
In the newly realigned NCL I North, Kelseyville barely worked up a sweat this season, winning eight of its nine league matches – including the last eight – in straight sets. The Knights lost one set to Clear Lake in their North opener. Kelseyville hosts Upper Lake (7-2) in its league and regular-season finale Thursday.
“We need to prepare or our last match on Thursday,” Kelseyville head coach Donelle McCallister said of facing the Cougars, who pushed the Knights hard in all three sets earlier this season at Upper Lake.
Cassidy Hanson and Madi Byrne finished with six kills apiece and Olivia Bushey five against Willits. The Knights also received solid play from Riley Hanson, who had 12 assists and six aces, and Brooklyn Young with 11 assists and six aces.
Kelseyville’s junior varsity squad wrapped up its own undisputed league championship with a 25-5, 25-10 win over the Wolverines. Like the varsity squad, the JV Knights improved to 9-0.
Gabby Keyes finished with eight digs and five aces, Olivia Arredondo added six kills, Kaia Bohan had five kills, and Mali Rico contributed 11 assists.
In other league action Tuesday:
Upper Lake def. Lower Lake
At Lower Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars clinched no worse than a second-place finish in the final North standings with a 25-19, 25-9, 25-16 win over the Lower Lake Trojans.
Upper Lake (7-2, 15-4) had a couple of nice runs from the service line during its victory. Abigail Suzor served five straight points in the first set while Alyssa John reeled off six in a row with two aces in the second set.
“We mixed things up and got all the girls on the court tonight,” Upper Lake head coach Fawn Rave said. “They all worked with each other to get the win tonight. I’m proud of them all.”
John finished with 11 service points, eight kills, five aces, four assists, three digs and one block while Rilee Sperber added 13 assists, five service points, three aces and one kill.
“All our hitters got some swings and the girls worked well covering defensively,” Rave said.
Other Upper Lake leaders were Aubree Sperber with 10 service points, three aces and two kills, Marina Quiett with six kills, five service points, four digs, two aces and one assist, Suzer with five service points, four kills and one ace, Destiny Caballero with two kills, and Jordyn Parker with two kills, two aces and two digs.
The Cougars close out their league and regular-season schedule Thursday in Kelseyville against the North-champion Kelseyville Knights.
Upper Lake’s JVs improved to 7-2 with a straight-set win over Lower Lake (sets scores weren’t available).
Jordin Hughes led the Cougars with four kills, Lizzie Fernandez had five service points and two kills, and Annica Warren and Kylee Solorio each had five service points.
Fort Bragg def. Clear Lake
At Lakeport, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves beat the Clear Lake Cardinals 25-22, 25-19, 25-20 in North action.
Fort Bragg improved to 6-3 in league play while Clear Lake fell to 3-6.
The Cardinals close out their season Thursday at home against Lower Lake.
Middletown def. Credo
At Rohnert Park, the Middletown Mustangs snapped a four-match South losing streak with a 30-28, 25-13, 25-18 win over the Credo Gryphon.
Winning a marathon first set provided the Mustangs (4-5, 17-16) with all the momentum they needed.
“We made a few too many mistakes right at the beginning, but we were able to recover in the first set,” Middletown head coach Erika Galvan said.
Middletown trailed 24-16 in the first set went Emma Davis stepped to the service line. She served nine points in a row to put the Mustangs in front 25-24.
“After that, we weren’t backing down,” Galvan said.
Grace Williams went on a service run of eight straight points in the third set to help the Mustangs complete the sweep of Credo.
“Izzi Hoogendoorn had strong all-around play as well,” Galvan said.
Hoogendoorn finished with 18 digs, nine service points, seven kills and four aces while Davis added 17 digs, 10 service points, nine kills, four aces and one block. Williams had 12 service points, three aces, two kills and one block. Other team leaders were Bridget Lisenbee with 15 assists and Brenna Goodloe with six kills and one block.
The Middletown JVs also picked up a win, rallying for a 19-25, 25-21, 16-14 victory.
“We were able to get great momentum in the second set,” Galvan said. “In that set, Cassidy Duvan made incredible plays and was aggressive at the net. Ella Del Zompo also served nine points in a row to lock in a lead. That was the energy we needed to finish out with a close third set.”
Carlee Williams served out the match as the Mustangs (2-7) won the final four points of the third set to take the match.
Lilly Reyes, Rylee Gabbert and Janel Wilkinson also played their part in the win. Reyes had 13 digs, five kills, one block and one ace; Gabbet added 11 service points, 10 digs and two aces; and Wilkinson had nine assists.
Middletown’s teams close out their league schedule Thursday in St. Helena beginning at 5 p.m.
