Post Falls opens with win, but drops pair to finish 5th

Post Falls began Friday with a victory, but the Trojans dropped their final two matches to get eliminated with a fifth-place finish at the state 5A high school volleyball tournament at Bonneville High in Idaho Falls.

"We were excited to be down here and we came out really well in the first game," Post Falls coach Willow Hanna said. "In Games 2 and 3 we didn't have the same fire and certainly didn't come out with the same aggression. That first loss put us on our heels and it was a struggle the rest of the day."

The Trojans, who finish with an 18-24 record, opened with a 25-19, 25-13, 27-25 victory over Timberline of Boise.

Danielle Failor led Post Falls with 12 kills, Brenna Meehan had 29 assists, Brooke Litalien 13 digs and Savannah Hill four blocks and four aces. Natalie Sarff added four blocks.

The Trojans followed the win with a 25-13, 25-17, 25-9 loss to Vallivue of Caldwell.

Meehan had 17 assists, Sarff nine kills and Litalien nine digs.

Rocky Mountain of Meridian eliminated Post Falls 26-24, 25-15, 25-9.

Hill had eight kills, Meehan 20 assists, Failor four blocks and Litalien 13 digs.

"Had we put that first game away (against Rocky Mountain), the outcome might have been different," Hanna said. "You never really know what would have happened, but it's something that we will be left to wonder.

"We spent the season trying to find things that worked. Things finally clicked for us at a great time. We made it to state as a fourth seed and it says a lot about the kids. We finished fifth at state, so we will take it."

3A: Playing without a key piece of their puzzle, the Timberlake Tigers went 0-2 in the state 3A tournament at Madison High in Rexburg.

Timberlake lost to the Sugar-Salem Diggers 25-20, 25-13, 25-16 in the opening round, then fell to the Snake River Panthers 25-14, 25-9, 25-12 to finish the season 18-13 after winning the District 1 championship last week.

"We had a rough time getting going," Timberlake coach Michelle Garwood said. "Our setter (Sydnie Malloy) wasn’t with us because she had prior commitments and we couldn’t adjust. We had a hard time playing with that consistency we’re used to.”

Against Sugar-Salem, Lexi Posch had nine kills, Jenna Hoffman nine assists, Cheyenne Gibson three kills and two assists for Timberlake. Posch had five kills and two assists, Gibson four kills and Jessica Norlander three kills against Snake River.

“It would have been nice to play a little better and show why we were down here,” Garwood said. “But it happens sometimes.”

Priest River, which lost to Timberlake in the District 1 title match, but won a play-in match to get to state, beat Shelley and Kimberly on Friday to advance to a semifinal match today vs. Fruitland.

2A: The St. Maries Lumberjacks went 1-2 at the state 2A tournament at Hillcrest High, in Idaho Falls, losing to Malad in a loser-out match 25-19, 25-16, 25-22 to finish the season 19-15.

St. Maries, which dropped from 3A to 2A this year, lost to Ririe in the opening round 20-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-23 before beating Cole Valley Christian 25-21, 25-15, 25-13.

No report was received from St. Maries.

1A Division II: Mullan, which qualified for state for the first time since 2002, was eliminated in two matches. The Tigers lost to Lighthouse Christian 25-16, 25-21, 25-15, and lost to Richfield 21-25, 25-11, 25-22, 25-6.