5A REGION 1 VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Back in the swing
COEUR d’ALENE — On paper or just looking at cold, hard numbers, Coeur d’Alene put up a clean sweep of Lake City squad on Tuesday in the 5A Region 1 volleyball championship at Lake City.
In reality, it was anything but totally clean, anything but easy for the Vikings, last season’s state runner-up. But No. 2 seed Cd’A, which won 25-19, 26-24, 25-20 over a high-effort, highly energized Lake City squad, took the region’s No. 1 seed going into the state 5A volleyball tournament Oct. 30-31, either at Lake City or Post Falls. Coeur d’Alene (21-4) will play the runner-up from District 5-6 out of eastern Idaho in its first match.
Lake City will host Post Falls at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the 5A Region’s second-place match. The winner of that will play 5 p.m. on Saturday at Grangeville, against the third-place team from District 3 from southern Idaho.
“I just asked the girls to be who we are,” said Vikings coach Dee Pottenger, whose team won its second straight regional title. “That we’ve been improving all season and I just asked them to play the kind of ball that we know how to play and I’m so proud of them, that it was exactly what we did. Our team hit .268, which is really good against a defense like Lake City’s.”
Each game was close enough that no team had more than a three-point lead after one team was the first to score 20 points.
After those points were another matter. In the key second game, Cd’A senior outside hitter Missy Huddleston, a verbal commit to the University of Montana who had a team-high 19 kills, set up game point, after her hit was dug by Lake City but landed in the stands.
“We fought for sure,” first-year Lake City coach Brian Hosfeld said. “We were a little error-prone. Coeur d’Alene did a nice job where we had to make a defensive point. For me, in volleyball it’s serving and passing. Coeur d’Alene would put us in a position where we couldn’t get the ball to our hitters. Converting off a dig is a big deal for us. That’s what we’ve done all season. We have another opportunity against Post Falls, we’ll see if we can take advantage of it.”
Junior setter/hitter Ali Williams, who had the best all-around match with 14 kills and 17 assists, finished the second game off from the right side when she found an opening along the left side of the front row of the Timberwolves (21-5) — for the clutch kill and a 2-0 lead.
“We’re working hard, connecting on our passes and our hits,” Wiliams said. “We’ll work our hardest at state.”
Williams stepped in admirably for Idaho verbal commit setter/outside hitter Megan Ramseyer, who injured her left knee on Sept. 1 during a match against Post Falls. On match point, fittingly, Williams set up Huddleston for a thundering kill from her left-side perch.
Lake City hung tough the entire match, but just could not get the key points during the final five or six points of each game. Senior right-side hitter Macy DuCoeur, who led a balanced Timberwolves attack with six kills, four blocks and 10 digs, hit a serve that landed a few hairs inbounds in the second game, for a 22-20 Lake City lead. But a quick pair of kills by Huddleston later tied the score at 23. Christina Carlson, a 6-foot-2 junior middle blocker who had four kills and three blocks, had a block that set up game point at 24-23. But Cd’A tied the score, setting up Huddleston and Williams’ huge hits.
“I felt like we were supposed to play them tough,” DuCoeur said. “I felt like we played a competitive level, it felt more like a four-gamer. Once we get to state, we’ll do that. It definitely helped us (playing Coeur d’Alene well). It gave us motivation and we had to make smart hits.”
For Coeur d’Alene, Isabella Hollibaugh finished with 21 assists and Maura Donovan came up with 11 digs.
Ashley Kaufman had 11 kills and 12 digs for Lake City. Tessa Sarff put up five kills and three blocks. Setter Klaire Mitchell finished with 25 assists and seven digs, and libero CC Cates had 12 digs.
So a tough region has found its champion and its runner-up will likely be a tough out as well.