Decades of bumps, sets and spikes

As part of a concession for state tournaments in basketball and wrestling never being held in North Idaho anymore, the state high school volleyball tournaments are played in North Idaho every other year.

Long gone are the days in the 1980s and early ’90s when Sandpoint and St. Maries dominated, often in the same year and often in the same building.

Post Falls played for a state title in 2011, but for the most part, teams from the Boise area, as well as eastern Idaho, have taken home much of the hardware — even when the event has been held up here.

That could change this year, with Lake City expected to challenge for the state 5A title when the tourney unfolds Friday and Saturday at Coeur d’Alene High.

Also up north, the 4A tourney is at Post Falls High, 3A at Lake City High, 2A at Lakeland High, 1A Division I at Lewis-Clark State, and 1A Division II at Lewiston High.

In any event, having watched many of the state tourneys since 1982, a few tourneys have stood out over the years.

1984: This was the first year of an eight-team bracket for state volleyball. Before that, only six teams qualified for some reason. On the first day, they were split into two pools of three, and each played two matches. The top two teams advanced to double-elimination bracket play on Saturday.

But in ’84, someone had the idea to make it an eight-team, single-elimination tournament. One loss, and you’re out. The old Bulldog Gym was packed when Sandpoint played Boise in the first round, and Boise never had a chance, losing 15-4, 15-4. Thanks for coming. Drive home safely.

That was also back in the day when a team could play at state in its own gym. That’s not allowed anymore, which is why the sites for the 5A, 4A and 3A tourneys are not decided until they know which teams have qualified for state. After finishing second in 1979 and going two and out in ’81, both in its own gym, Sandpoint won state titles in its own gym in 1984, ’99 and 2003.

1988: Lakeland had some pretty good teams in the late 1980s and early ’90s — third-place finishes in ’86, ’90 and ’91. Only problem — the Hawks were in the same division as the St. Maries juggernaut.

In ’88, under Claudia (Collins) Ebel, Lakeland finally made it to the state A-2 championship match, played that year at the old Post Falls High (now middle school) gym. Naturally, its opponent was St. Maries. As memory serves, the Hawks played well, but the Lumberjacks were a machine in those days, and won 15-6, 15-6.

(Looking back, how they managed to fit all those fans into that (relatively) tiny gym in those days is mind-boggling. We must have all been skinnier then.)

1994: By this time, North Idaho was getting spoiled with St. Maries winning every year. Starting in 1982, the Lumberjacks had won every state A-2 title with the exception of ’83. And Sandpoint won five straight A-1 titles from 1982-86. In those days, the A-1 and A-2 tourneys were played in the same gym, on side-by-side courts. So often Sandpoint and St. Maries were playing in the title match at the same time, eventually celebrating state titles within minutes of each other. (In 1987, Coeur d’Alene won its only state title, while St. Maries won another title, on an adjacent court).

By ’94, Sandpoint was back in the championship match. After a few years of slippage, the Bulldogs were coming off back-to-back runner-up finishes at state. St. Maries, meanwhile, was in the title match for the 14th straight year, and had won 10 straight state titles.

So it was all set up, at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls, for the return of Sandpoint and St. Maries to the winners circle. Sandpoint won its title — its first state title since ’86, ending its own drought. But St. Maries fell in the finals to Preston and it was like “Wait? What? St. Maries lost?”

Few could have seen it coming at the time, but St. Maries would not win another championship until ...

2009: The return to glory for St. Maries. The Lumberjacks had gone 16 years between titles — an eternity in a community that had gotten used to celebrating them on an annual basis. They had come close several times since that 1993 title, with second-place finishes in ’94, ’95, ’99, 2001, ’05 and ’07 — before finally breaking through in ’09 under Missy Asbury, a former Lumberjack standout.

St. Maries was second in 2010, then hit a trophy-less spell until taking fourth in 2015 and third last year.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.