PREP VOLLEYBALL: Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls to play for 5A regional title
Top-seeded Coeur d’Alene and second-seeded Post Falls advanced to Tuesday’s championship match with victories Saturday in the first round of the 5A Region 1 volleyball tournament.
Coeur d’Alene defeated visiting and No. 4 Lewiston 28-26, 25-20, 25-20, and Post Falls downed visiting and No. 3 Lake City 25-10, 26-24, 25-13.
Post Falls (28-5) will play at Coeur d’Alene (20-5) on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. for the regional title and a berth to state next week.
Lake City (10-10) will play host to Lewiston (4-10) on Tuesday at 6:30 in a loser-out match.
Coeur d’Alene d. Lewiston: Paisley Goings had 14 kills, eight digs and two blocks for Coeur d’Alene. Madison Mitchell had 12 kills and 11 digs, Gracie Legs 24 digs, Alexa Stavros five aces, Bailey Jaworski 21 assists, Lizzy Hardy 18 assists, Kaydence Green three blocks, Olivia Naccarato and Gia Ganke two blocks each.
“We played a very well-balanced match,” Coeur d’Alene coach Carly Curtis said. “Our defense did a good job of forming around the block, allowing us to get a controlled dig to run our offense,”
Post Falls d. Lake City: Trinity Byrne had seven kills for Post Falls. Kylie Munday had six kills, 21 assists, eight digs and two aces, Jenna Sarff six kills and three blocks, Kaela Gump six blocks and seven aces, Vanessa Kison nine digs and two aces.
“I’m really proud of our team,” Post Falls coach Willow Hanna said. “We have worked hard all season and had some specific preparation this week. They implemented all of it today. We will continue to prepare for Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday,.”
For Lake City, Jessalyn Wilson had seven kills and five digs, Emmery Fuller seven kills, Kamryn Pickford 10 digs, Taylor Winey 23 assists.
“We found a spark in the second set but couldn’t hold on to it,” Lake City coach Michelle Kleinberg said, “We showed improvement compared to our last matchup against Post Falls, so we’ll celebrate that and keep our eyes focused on Lewiston. Post Falls was dialed in today. I have a ton of respect for Willow; she’s done a heckuva job with that team.”
Grangeville d.
St. Maries
GRANGEVILLE — Mia Asbury had 10 kills, three blocks and nine digs for the Lumberjacks in a 19-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-11 Central Idaho League loss to the Bulldogs.
St. Maries (16-7, 6-2) will be the second seed and face Orofino in the opening round of the 2A District 1-2 tournament on Monday at Kellogg High.
Abbie Wilks had eight kills, Naomi Mueller eight kills and four blocks, Lily Daniel 33 assists, Brenna Elliott nine digs and two aces and Ava Stancil eight digs for St. Maries.
Kellogg d.
Wallace
KELLOGG — Maddie Cheney had 18 kills and six aces for the Wildcats in a 22-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-7 win over the Miners at Andrews Gymnasium in the school’s Dig Pink breast cancer awareness match.
“We raised almost $1,500 for cancer research between the schools,” Kellogg coach Stephanie Batchelder said. “The energy was good on the court and in the crowd. Wallace was super scrappy and it was a good match for us.”
Macy Jerome had six aces, Emily Coe three blocks, Dani Hendrickson 25 assists, Paige Yrjana 22 digs and Brielle Hei 22 digs for Kellogg (10-4), which hosts the 2A District 1-2 tournament on Monday.
Kellogg will face the winner of Priest River and Grangeville at 7 p.m.
Tia Hendrick had 20 digs and five aces, Britany Phillips six blocks, Aubrey Birdsell 14 assists and Megan Hull seven kills for Wallace (21-3), which faces the winner of Tuesday’s Lakeside/Genesis Prep match in the 1A Division I District 1 championship match on Thursday at North Idaho College.