LAKEPORT — The second half of North Central League I play is under way for the Clear Lake Cardinals although they still have a bit of first-half business to take care of Wednesday with a road trip to Fort Bragg.

Clear Lake's varsity volleyball squad kept pace with Fort Bragg on Tuesday with a 26-28, 25-18, 25-18, 25-14 home win against the Willits Wolverines. Fort Bragg also beat Middletown 25-20, 25-8, 25-8 in Fort Bragg. Both Clear Lake and Fort Bragg improved to 7-1 in the league standings as they eye a Wednesday showdown on the Mendocino County coast, a match rescheduled from Sept. 16 because the Timberwolves were in COVID-19 quarantine.

After that, both teams will be in a final sprint for the league title and playoffs along with still-undefeated Roseland University Prep (7-0) of Santa Rosa.

"They're pretty scrappy," Clear Lake head coach Marci Psalmonds said of the Wolverines (4-6), who took advantage of the Cardinals' mistakes to win the first set.

"You have to play good against them, you can't let up or they'll beat you," Psalmonds said.

Behind a balanced hitting attack, the Cardinals straightened things out in a hurry and had no problem winning the last three sets to claim the best-of-five match.

"We have to problem going to whoever we want to," Psalmonds said of a diversified Clear Lake hitting attack had seven different players log at least three kills.

Zoey Pepper led the way with eight kills, Abby Mertle and Sydney Howe had five apiece, Sierra Bruch and Camrin Pivniska finished with four each, and Montana Wells and Stella Hill contributed three apiece.

"We mixed it up and hit it pretty well," Psalmonds said.

Raina Clifton, the Cardinals' libero, led the team with 26 digs and also had two aces.

"She took control of the entire back row," Psalmonds said.

Howe had a team-best 18 assists and three aces while Pepper added nine digs and one ace.

In the junior varsity match , Clear Lake defeated Willits 25-21, 25-19 to improve to 6-2 in league play. Rylie Andrews had three kills for the Cardinals while Quincy Paarsch split time between middle hitter and the back row, doing well at both, according to head coach Morgan Psalmonds.

"She stepped up and did a really good job up front," Psalmonds said. "She also had 10 digs and an ace."

Two other standouts were Rubi Ford with seven digs and two aces and Tori Trops with a team-high six aces.

"She did an awesome job serving," Psalmonds said of Trops.

"It was exciting beating Willits," Psalmonds added.

In other volleyball action Tuesday:

Fort Bragg def. Middletown

At Fort Bragg, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves overpowered the Middletown Mustangs 25-20, 25-9, 25-8 to remain tied with Clear Lake in the NCL I standings. Both teams are 7-1.

Middletown (3-7) had its two-match league winning streak snapped.

"Fort Bragg made some mistakes in the first set, but they reduced those mistakes," Middletown head coach Vanessa Davis said of the Mustangs' tough night on the Mendocino County coast.

How tough?

"We had one kill for the entire match," Davis said.

Sophie Smith had that one kill for the Mustangs. One bright spot was the serving of Skylar Williams, who had seven points, three of them aces.

"She would have to be our top player," Davis said.

Jacie Clavelle had a big night for theTimberwolves with 16 digs, eight kills and four aces while teammate Lucy Hendricks put up similar numbers with 14 digs, six kills and two aces.

"Jacie is so solid," Fort Bragg head coach Kim Mertle said. "She plays her heart out every game no matter where we put her."

Also for the Timberwolves, Carmen Velasquez had 10 assists, seven digs and five kills.

Fort Bragg won the JV match 25-18, 25-21.

Middletown has a bye Thursday before returning to action Tuesday at home against St. Helena.

Kelseyville at Lower Lake (postponed)

At Lower Lake, the Kelseyville Knights (2-5) had to postpone their road match against the Lower Lake Trojans because of COVID-19 protocols. As a result, the Knights also may have to postpone their Thursday home match with Fort Bragg.

Lower Lake (0-6) has had to postpone five matches earlier this season for the same reason.