Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The South Fork Cubs in action at St. Bernard’s on Tuesday night.

The St. Bernard’s Crusaders remained unbeaten in conference play with a straight sets win over a shorthanded South Fork team on Tuesday night.

With the 25-9, 25-12, 25-11 win, the SB girls improved to 5-0 in conference and two wins clear of the chasing pack with four games remaining.

Also in action on Tuesday night, the Ferndale Wildcats kept their championship ambitions alive with a straight sets win (25-20, 25-20, 25-17) over Hoopa and improved to 3-2 in conference.

“I am proud as we continue to move through league with the growth of our team and senior leaders,” St. Bernard’s head coach Sejay Sarti said. 

That group of senior includes Anna Dorsch, who was key in Tuesday’s win and finished with some bog blocks and kills to help lead the way.

Dorsch also had a good night serving in a Monday night loss to McKinleyville in non-conference action.

Another player who stood out on Tuesday was Gabby Qiao, who “held down the back line and continues to grow into her role on the team,” according to her coach. 

Qiao also had two aces in the win.

Junior Scarlett Zerlang also had a good game for the home team and hit the ball hard at the net.

“She is making great strides in her game,” Sarti added of Zerlang.

The Cubs, meanwhile, were missing two of their best players — team captain Mackenzie Coleman and her younger sister Leila Coleman — but showed a lot of fight and earned the respect of their opposing coach.

“South Fork always comes to the gym ready to play a good game,” Sarti said. “They are resilient and have great sportsmanship.”

Despite the loss, South Fork head coach Phoebe Becker was impressed with her player’ efforts and collective attitude.

“We did not perform that well, but everyone tried hard and did what they could while missing Mackenzie and Leila,” she said. “It was very unfortunate they were both out sick when we were playing against one of our toughest opponents.

“My team maintained good attitudes until the very end though.”

Naveah Matteole led the way at the net for the Cubs and finished with five blocks, while Peyton Cherry had a team-best four aces.

Freshman Emalynn Wheeler also impressed for the visitors and had a good night with her serve receiving.

At Ferndale, the Wildcats won their third conference game and their second over the Warriors.

Amaya Mathews led the home team with 10 kills, four aces and three blocks, while teammate Danica Dowd had six kills and seven aces.

Abby Gossi also had three blocks, while Dalia Cantu-Mendez finished with 15 assists and seven digs and Fallon Bullan had a team-high eight digs.

For Hoopa, Wau’Kel Blake finished with a team-high five kills and freshman teammate Vuunsip E-Kor added four kills.

Another freshman, Luella Cosce, also impressed in the loss and had had a team-high 18 digs.

Taelyr Lewis-Tracy added 12 assists.

With the loss, the Warriors dropped to 1-4 and they sit in a tie for third in the standings with South Fork.