Quick and to the point
LOREN BENOIT/Press The Lake City High School volleyball team hoists its 5A Region 1 Championship trophy in the air after defeating Post Falls Tuesday night.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Post Falls’ Courtney Finney stretches out to hit a volley during Tuesday night’s 5A Region 1 Championship game at Lake City High School.
COEUR d’ALENE — The free ball arced over the net on match point, and Kaitlin Hunter wanted to be the one to end it.
“I wanted a quick set, and to pound it ... better hit it as hard as I can,” said Hunter, who did just that.
The senior middle blocker’s quick-set kill clinched the top-seeded Lake City Timberwolves’ 25-15, 25-20, 25-22 victory over the third-seeded Post Falls Trojans in the championship match of the 5A Region 1 volleyball tournament Tuesday night at Lake City.
“I really trusted my teammates to make a great pass, and Klaire put up a great set, and I just did my job,” Hunter said.
“I was so excited for her, because she deserved to get that last kill,” senior middle blocker Zion Nelson said of Hunter.
Lake City (28-1) won its second straight regional title and heads back to state, which runs Oct. 27-28 in Kootenai County. The 5A tourney will be at either Post Falls or Coeur d’Alene high school, depending on who doesn’t qualify for state, since teams can’t play state on their home court.
Also Tuesday, No. 4 seed Coeur d’Alene won at Lewiston in a loser-out match. Post Falls (24-12) will play host to Coeur d’Alene (16-12) on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. for second place, and a berth in Saturday’s state play-in match.
Ashley Kaufman had 14 kills and eight digs for Lake City. Arlaina Stephenson had eight kills and two aces, Klaire Mitchell 27 assists and three blocks, Ashley Reyes 12 digs and two aces, Chloe Knudson eight digs, Nelson two blocks.
“We just came out and played to win from the first whistle to the last whistle, just controlled our side of the net,” first-year Lake City coach Mike Summers said. “I really liked the tempo that we were running, and the pace that we were running. We continue to see some improvements in our blocking, which was beneficial for us tonight.”
Lake City opens state next Friday at 9 a.m. vs. the fourth-place finisher from District 3.
Lake City hit a flat spot in the second set while trying to rotate some bench players in — a good idea, but it disrupted the flow a little bit. And Post Falls made the Timberwolves work for it in the third set.
But for the most part, Lake City let very few balls hit the floor — obviously a goal for all teams, but something the T-Wolves do better than most.
“We’re running a different defense than we have in the past,” said Stephenson, a senior outside hitter. “I think it’s fast and efficient, which allows us to play at a higher level.”
Mitchell, a junior setter, twice made big plays when Post Falls had the momentum.
In the second set, after Post Falls had trimmed a 16-6 deficit to 17-15, Mitchell scored on a dump set, and Lake City went on to win the second game.
In the third set, with Post Falls up 21-20, Mitchell chased after an errant pass that looked like a potential overfeed. But as it reached the top of the net, Mitchell leaped and knocked it to the floor for a kill.
Allison Munday had six of her nine kills in the third set for Post Falls. Tessa Sarff had seven kills and five blocks, Kayla Mayo 16 assists, Maya Blake four blocks, Kalli Minden nine digs.
“I thought we battled hard tonight,” Post Falls coach Matt Barkley said. “Lake City is a solid team and they didn’t make many mistakes. We are disappointed, but I know we are a resilient team. We are going to regroup at practice tomorrow and be ready to battle Coeur d’Alene Thursday. I have a lot of faith in our team. They won’t let this match get to them.”
Coeur d’Alene d. Lewiston: Emily Kladar had 14 kills, two blocks and two aces as the visiting Vikings beat the Bengals 25-21, 25-18, 25-11 in a loser-out match at Booth Hall.
Taylin Rowley had 17 assists, Lauren Phillips 10 for Coeur d’Alene. Delaney Schmidt had five kills and two aces, Elly Schraeder five kills and two aces, Sam Swayze 14 digs and two aces, Sarah Wilkey nine digs.
“Lewiston is a tough team that we’ve battled with each time we’ve played this season,” Coeur d’Alene coach Dee Pottenger said. “Tonight our three seniors really played tough, and our young players continued to improve. Elly had a phenomenal match.
“It was great to earn the win, and we’re glad we are still playing for a state berth.”
Lewiston finished 23-7, losing both of its regional matches at home.