PREP VOLLEYBALL: Lake City, Sandpoint, Bonners fall in play-ins

Kootenai downs Lakeside to advance to 1A Division II tourney

5A

Lake City falls

in four to

Rocky Mountain

GRANGEVILLE — Ashley Kaufman had 14 kills and 16 digs for the Lake City Timberwolves in a 16-25, 25-17, 31-29, 25-21 loss to the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies in a state 5A play-in match on Saturday at Grangeville High.

Rocky Mountain (10-10) advances to the state 5A tournament at Post Falls High, opening against Vallivue on Friday at 10 a.m.

Nina Carlson had six kills and five blocks, Tessa Sarff had five kills and four blocks and CC Cates 22 digs for Lake City, which finishes 21-6-5 in coach Brian Hosfeld’s first season as coach.

4A

Sandpoint falls to Middleton

GRANGEVILLE — Laney Search tallied nine kills, 14 assists and two aces, and Kayla Neumann added seven kills, 14 digs and two aces, but a quick start was not enough, as the Bulldogs lost 21-25, 25-7, 25-19, 25-15 to the Vikings in a state 4A play-in match at Grangeville High.

The Bulldogs (16-19) started fast in the first set, but two five-set losses to Moscow on Thursday, along with a lengthy bus ride, took its toll on the Bulldogs’ legs, as Middleton (12-4) closed things out with three quick sets.

The night was indicative of the Bulldogs’ season, which saw streaks of high level volleyball often followed by rough patches, the last of which ended their season.

“We’re a young, inexperienced team, and unfortunately with that comes inconsistency,” said Bulldogs head coach Erin Roos. “We started off confident and strong. In the second set we struggled on serve receive, had trouble defending against their middles and had too many hitting errors.”

Grace Kirscher had six kills, Grace Hicks four blocks, Rylee Darling five kills and eight digs and Lydia Harrison 12 assists in defeat.

With a young nucleus of talent returning, the future is bright for the program, despite the season ending loss in what resembled a rebuilding year for the Bulldogs, who saw their streak of 10 straight state berths come to an end.

“We are all really disappointed. We will remember this feeling and use it as motivation to work hard in the offseason,” said Roos, who brought the team a long way. “I’m still proud of how much they’ve improved this season.”

3A

Emmett d.

Bonners Ferry

GRANGEVILLE — The Huskies beat the Badgers in a state 3A play-in match to advance to the state 3A tournament at Lake City High starting on Friday.

1A DIVISION II

Kootenai on to

state for second

straight year

COEUR d’ALENE — Grace McInturff had 17 kills and three blocks and Kaili Gentry had nine blocks, 12 kills and eight digs for the top seeded Warriors, who beat the third seeded Knights

25-14, 25-21, 25-20 in the 1A Division II District 1 championship match to advance to the state tournament starting Friday at Booth Hall in Lewiston.

Kootenai (16-6) opens the tournament against Watersprings at 8 a.m. on Friday.

“The Lady Warriors have done a tremendous job this season in developing their skills and building through mentalities,” Kootenai coach Mary Gentry said. “I could not be more proud of them.”

Paxton Dotson had 25 assists, six kills and two aces, Jenna Karpinski 12 digs and seven kills, Allison Short nine kills and five digs, Madison Napierala 22 assists, five kills and eight digs and Brook Larson 11 digs and five kills for Kootenai, which eliminated Mullan 25-11, 25-11, 25-17 earlier in the day.

Lakeside, which entered the tournament as the third seed, upset second seeded Clark Fork 25-12, 27-25, 24-26, 25-23.

“The girls came out really strong against Clark Fork and played great volleyball,” Lakeside co-coach Karyn Stockdale said. “They had a bit of an adrenaline rush and it crashed in the first game against Kootenai. They recovered in the second game and played competitively, but just came up short. They never quit and battled to the final point.”

Talia Hendrickx had five aces, 38 assists, seven kills and 50 digs, Lillian Rhea two aces, three assists, 15 kills, 28 digs and 10 blocks, Cailyn Dohrman four assists, 17 kills and 20 blocks, Te’a Lambert five aces, nine kills and 15 digs, Rachel Arthur seven aces, 10 kills, four blocks and 10 digs and Corinne Peone three aces and 31 digs for Lakeside, which finishes 7-8.

Leslie Kiebert posted 12 kills and four digs, Brooke Stevens 17 set assists, Nona Young three kills, seven assists and three aces, and Ali Sutton and Hailey Bristol three kills apiece in the loss for the young Wampus Cats (10-7), who played four freshman for much of the match and have a bright future.

Clark Fork coach Cindy Derr wasn’t happy with the district’s decision to grant a No. 1 seed, and modified double-elimination status, based on a coin flip, especially after her team really only had one league loss, as Wallace is not in the same classification. Clark Fork and Kootenai had a coin flip to determine the top seed at the tournament, with the Warriors, who lost to Lakeside and Clark Fork in league play, winning the flip.

“I’m unhappy how the league decides (top seed) in the tourney,” said Derr, who felt her team struggled with the loser-out atmosphere. “They didn’t act like they came to play. Lakeside kept chipping away with their over-in-two, and we couldn’t take care of the holes.”