2A: St. Maries ousted in two
RATHDRUM — A rough start, especially in a sport where a point in scored on each point, can put a team behind the 8-ball fast.
And that’s exactly what the Lumberjacks dealt with on Friday morning in the opening round of the state 2A volleyball tournament at Lakeland High.
St. Maries lost to Melba 25-16, 25-18, 25-23, then lost to West Side in five sets and was eliminated.
Melba, the District 3 runner-up, jumped out to a 25-16, 25-18 lead after two sets, then had to hold on late to sweep St. Maries — the District 1-2 champion — in the opening round.
“Basically, the morning was a slow start and we weren’t ready to go,” second-year St. Maries coach Rachele Asbury said. “Melba came in ready to play and we were still asleep. It took us a while to get going, and once you’re down a match, and then another one, then the momentum’s on the other team’s side.”
Later, West Side ended the Lumberjacks’ season at 21-14. St. Maries was third at state in 2016. It is the first time St. Maries has gone winless at state since 1980, when the Lumberjacks went 0-3 in pool play.
Melba used a seven-point run in the first set to take a 17-10 lead, then scored the final three points of the second set to take a 25-18 win. St. Maries fought back to even the third set at 23-all on back-to-back kills by Devyn Wilson, but Melba closed the match with the final two points.
“We tried to fight back in the third and made it come close,” Asbury said. “Ultimately, it comes down to what we could have done better in the first two games and having a mentality of coming in ready to go.”
Wilson finished with 11 kills, Dakotah Wilks five digs and 25 assists and McKenna Borgman and Kaci Haeg one ace each for St. Maries against Melba.
“There’s tons of things we need to fix, but our errors came down to how we played,” Asbury said. “This morning, we didn’t come in ready to play and it showed out there. And that’s why Melba was able to take the win.”
Kori Pentzer had 13 kills, Emma Clark five aces and Katelyn Young 25 assists for Melba, which advanced to face Firth in the quarterfinals.
“St. Maries has a really solid middle hitter (Kaylee Auer) and setter (Wilks) that we knew we had to prepare for,” Melba coach Nichole Bunnell said. “We knew we had to work hard. We just never gave up. That was our motto the entire match.”