Lake City fends off Post Falls in 5A IEL volleyball
POST FALLS - With scrappy defense, and playing some of their best volleyball of the season, the Post Falls Trojans had their chances to knock off the Lake City Timberwolves in 5A Inland Empire League volleyball Thursday night at The Arena.
But in the end, the Timberwolves had a little too much offense, and fended off Post Falls 22-25, 25-17, 27-25, 25-19 to stay on course to nab a tie for the league title.
"They didn't give up," Lake City coach Bret Taylor said. "When the game was on the line, they didn't cave. I think they felt comfortable they could make it work."
Kylie Curtis had 26 kills, six aces, six digs and four blocks for Lake City (14-3, 4-1 5A IEL). Madi Farrell had eight kills and 3 1/2 blocks, Brittany Gay 25 assists, Kaity Widmyer 13 assists, Kasey Widmyer 10 digs.
Post Falls (11-14, 1-5) won the first game on a tip kill by senior Natalie Sarff, and held slim leads in the third and fourth games. But usually it was Curtis or Farrell that came up with the big play at the net to push the T-Wolves past the Trojans.
"We were a little scrappy tonight," Post Falls coach Willow Hanna said. "I think it's part of the growth of the season. I thought we had some good defense at times, chasing down some balls and blocking ... I just think they put the ball on our side a little bit more, and we just had some unforced errors. They were scrappy, they served tough, and they kept the play alive."
Senior Savannah Hill, a right side/outside hitter, had 13 kills for Post Falls, and senior Sydney Wiggins, an outside hitter/middle blocker, added 10. Middle blocker Dani Failor had five blocks, Brenna Meehan had 33 assists and three aces, and libero Brooke Litalien had 19 digs.
"They are smart hitters, and they were using our block to their benefit," Taylor said of Post Falls. "And weren't picking it up behind the block, and (the ball) was dropping into the middle of the court."
Post Falls plays in the Crossover Classic today and Saturday in Spokane.
Lake City needs wins at Coeur d'Alene next Tuesday and at home vs. Moscow on Thursday to tie Lewiston (18-2, 5-1) for the league title, likely necessitating a coin flip to determine the No. 1 seed for the Region 1 tournament beginning Oct. 13.
Lewiston concluded league play Tuesday with a win over Post Falls, forcing Lake City to win out to keep up with the Bengals.
"If we would have kept up with them when we were down at their place, we wouldn't even have this conversation," Taylor said, referring to Lake City's lone loss in league.