Kelseyville draws No. 2 Marin Academy in North Coast Section quarterfinals
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KELSEYVILLE >> Beating a school nearly three times their size, the Kelseyville Knights upset No. 7 seed Acalanes High School of Lafayette 25-21, 26-24, 25-18 on Wednesday night in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 2 playoffs in Kelseyville.
A Division 4 team by enrollment, the North Central League I North-champion Knights are playing up two divisions this season under the section’s “competitive equity” playoff system. They are the only double-digit seed – No. 10 – to survive first-round play.
Next up for the Knights (23-4) is No. 2 seed Marin Academy (27-4) on Saturday in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. in San Rafael.
“Wow! That match was fun,” Kelseyville head coach Donelle McCallister said. “Not because we won but because of the energy and commitment our whole team brought to this game.”
The two teams were never separated by much until Kelseyville pulled away late in the third set to sweep the match. The first two sets were airtight. In fact, Acalanes held a 24-22 lead in the second set before the Knights rallied back to win it.
“Serve receive was outstanding tonight as well as defense,” McCallister said. “Acalanes served and hit hard, the strongest team we have played all season.”
Kelseyville excelled in several areas to pull off the win.
“Our serve receivers had an average passing score of 1.7, one of our highest scores all season,” McCallister said. “Cassidy (Hanson), Madison (Byrne), Olivia (Bushey), Riley (Hanson) and Grace (Peterson) handled extremely tough serves well.”
Kelseyville’s defense also had 62 digs.
“These were in no way easy gets,” McCallister said. “The attack from Acalanes was strong and consistent. I told the girls after watching them warm up to play higher up on the court on defense. Not only did they do that, but they picked up powerful swings.”
Kelseyville limited its hitting errors against the Dons as well.
“Offense only had 10 hitting errors all night,” McCallister said. “The girls made some really smart plays getting around their big middles.”
Perhaps even more instrumental in the win, according to McCallister, were her team’s block touches.
“Our team had more block touches and blocks than we have had all season,” McCallister said. “The girls covered our hitters well and picked up balls that Acalanes blocked.”
Cassidy Hanson, a freshman, led the team with 12 kills and 17 digs. Olivia Bushey was right behind her with 11 kills. Riley Hanson had a team-best 20 assists to go along with six kills and two blocks.
Other Kelseyville leaders were Madi Byrne with 12 digs, Brooklyn Young with 13 assists, and Paelynn Beall with three kills and two blocks.
The Knights also had plenty of support from their fans and student rooting section.
“Kelseyville volleyball would be nothing without our community,” McCallister said. “A huge thank you to all our KVUSD administrators and staff, family and friends, and our wonderful student body who showed up tonight to support these girls.”
If the Knights can pull off another upset against Marin Academy, they’ll advance to the semifinals on Wednesday against the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal between No. 6 University and No. 3 Salesian.
