LAKEPORT — No one was happier to see sophomore Kaia Garvens tip the ball over the net on match point than Urban head coach Kali Heys on Saturday night as the sixth-seeded Blues defeated the Clear Lake Cardinals 25-17, 25-18, 25-23 in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division 5 volleyball playoffs at Lakeport.

Garvens racked up a high number of kills, most of them on powerful blasts, but her soft-touch dink on match point simply found an open spot on the floor to give the Blues a hard-earned 25-23 third-set win against the third-seeded Cardinals.

Clear Lake's Sierra Bruch taps the ball over the net during the Cardinals' 25-17, 25-18, 25-23 playoff loss to the Urban Blues on Saturday night in Lakeport. (Photos by Bob Minenna)

"It was exciting to see her tip the ball over because she never wants to tip it," Heys said. "Sometimes she's not sure whether to hit it hard or not, but she never has a confidence problem. She had an awesome night."

While Garvens definitely did the most damage to Clear Lake on Saturday, the other Urban players on the front line — Bella Hildebrand, Mia Smith and Olivia Robbins — all took turns pounding the ball at Clear Lake's defense, with Smith also contributing a handful of big-time blocks.

And the Blues weren't even at full strength, according to Heys, as middle hitter Kailene Apana was away on an excused absence although she'll rejoin the team for Tuesday's semifinal match against No. 2 seed The Bay School, another San Francisco team.

Clear Lake also took the floor minus one of its key players, Stella Hill, who broke her foot in practice earlier in the week and won't be able to return should the Cardinals earn an at-large berth into the NorCal Division 5 playoffs next month. Not only that, but middle hitter Abby Mertle, still recovering from an ankle injury, rolled her other ankle in practice this week but did suit up and play well against the Blues.

Clear Lake's Sydney Howe serves the ball.

"Not having her on defense hurt us," Clear Lake head coach Marci Psalmonds said of Hill. "Abby hit the ball a lot better tonight than she did the other night. I thought my middles (Mertle and Montana Wells) played pretty well. They were able to block a lot of balls."

In fact, Psalmonds said the Cardinals, even though they fell in three sets to Urban, upped their overall game from a Tuesday sweep of St. Vincent during a first-round match at Lakeport.

"They fought, they did well together," Psalmonds said of her team's overall performance against the Blues. "I thought they played better tonight but Urban is a more powerful team and they kept us back on our heels tonight."

Clear Lake's kill totals certainly bear that out as the Cardinals didn't have many chances to attack. Zoey Pepper and Sydney Howe led the team with six kills apiece while Mertle added five kills and four blocks.

The Cardinals struggled getting the ball to their hitters while dealing with the Blues' frequent attacks. Clear Lake often had to settle for getting the ball back over the net any way it could, and a number of free balls allowed Urban to load up again and pound the ball back over.

Clear Lake players Sydney Howe (10), Abby Mertle (21) and Sierra Bruch (11) celebrate after wining a long rally.

"I thought when we did get into our offense, we hit the ball pretty well," Psalmonds said, pointing to a third set that seesawed back and forth, the two teams within a point or two of each other nearly the entire way.

Urban's hitters didn't always need to be close to the net to initiate their attacks. Many of the sets were much farther back, and it proved no problem for the likes of Garvens but especially Hildebrand, who drilled a number of top-spin winners.

"We practice that all the time," Heys said.

Clear Lake (20-6) won't know until early next week if a NorCal berth is in the offing. Until then, Psalmonds said she would let her volleyball players who are also basketball players start working out in that sport since the season opens Monday.

Clear Lake's Sydney Howe reaches out for the ball as Urban's Kaia Garvens defends at the net.

"There's no sense making them practice (volleyball) until we know if we're going (to the NorCals). Then we'll start volleyball practice again. That's what I did in 2017."

Four years ago the Cardinals reached the NorCals as an at-large team and won their first two matches before losing in five sets in the semifinals, one match shy of the NorCal championships.

As far as the sectional playoffs go, Clear Lake will have to wait at least one more year before trying to crack through into the semifinals, something the school has never done in Division 5, which is loaded with many talented private schools, including all four of this year's semifinalists.

No. 2 seed Bay School beat Urban (14-11) in straight sets earlier this season in a non-league match. Bay School was the undefeated Bay Counties Central champion this season while Urban finished fourth in the ultra-competitive Bay Counties West, finishing behind champion Marin Academy, University, and Convent of the Sacred Heart, the No. 1 seed in Division 5. Marin Academy and University play each other in the Division 4 semifinals Tuesday.

Clear Lake libero Raina Clifton digs up a hard shot by Urban.

All three of the top finishers in the North Central League I this season lost in straight sets in the quarterfinals Saturday. Besides third-place Clear Lake, NCL I champion Roseland University Prep lost in Division 4 action to Marin Academy as did runner-up Fort Bragg to No. 1 seed Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa.