STATE 2A VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT: St. Maries' road to state nets fourth-place finish

RATHDRUM — The St. Maries Lumberjacks had hoped their stronger level of play this season would lead to a longer day at the state 2A volleyball tournament at Lakeland High.

But a couple of hiccups Saturday morning led to an 25-18, 26-28, 11-25, 25-16, 15-13 loss to the Cole Valley Christian Chargers at Hawk Court, and a fourth-place finish.

“We’ve always had this (one-) game slump — sometimes it hits us in the first game, sometimes it hits us in the fourth game,” St. Maries coach Amy Scheer said. “We just couldn’t finish them.”

The Lumberjacks, in their first trip to state since 2012, finished 20-3.

Senior Kari Ghramm had 29 kills for St. Maries. Junior Kelsey Auer had 52 assists, sophomore Paige Sines 17 digs, sophomore Kaylee Auer five blocks, senior Alexis Cordell two aces.

St. Maries swept Cole Valley Christian in the first round on Friday, but saw a slightly different team in the rematch.

“Their block was better today,” Scheer said. “They picked up their level of play.”

The St. Maries team traveled back and forth to Rathdrum each day for state. On the way home Friday night, the team bus hit a deer on U.S. 95 near Fighting Creek, slightly delaying the trip home. The bus was examined and deemed fit for transportation, and the team pulled into town around 10 — then the squad was back on the bus at 6 a.m. Saturday for the ride back to Rathdrum.

In addition to earning a trophy for placing fourth, St. Maries won the 2A sportsmanship award.

“To bring some hardware home was good for these girls,” said Scheer, in her second season as head coach at her alma mater. “These girls played hard all season, they played with everything they had, and it got us fourth.”