STATE 4A, 1A DIVISION I VOLLEYBALL: Lakeland fine with fourth, for now

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

POST FALLS — Good sports through it all, the Lakeland volleyball team fell short of its ultimate goal of a state 4A title.

But, the Hawks didn’t go home empty handed.

Actually, they’ve got something for both hands.

Lakeland, seeded second in this year’s state tournament, fell in straight sets to top-seeded Bonneville of Idaho Falls 25-21, 25-20, 25-13, finishing fourth at Post Falls High on Saturday.

“This is a huge accomplishment,” sixth-year Lakeland coach Kelsie Badger said. “I’m super proud of them. Bonneville’s a great program and has been for years. Today, they came out more prepared than we were. We battled hard in the first two sets. We’ll be back next year and have a little more state competition under our belt.”

Lakeland, which graduates two seniors — Lila Kiefer and Ella Terzulli — finished 24-9.

“We’ve got a lot to hope for,” said Badger, whose team also was awarded the sportsmanship award. “We’re definitely going to miss our two seniors Lila and Ella. I love them. They worked hard this season. They’ll be missed for sure. Returning almost everyone for next year will really help.”

Lakeland was at state for the first time since winning the 4A title in 2020. The Hawks lost in the match to get to state each of the next two years — both times on their home court.

“It meant a lot to get back here,” said Kiefer, who was a freshman on the 2020 team. “I felt like the energy, especially my freshman year, we were one. It means a lot to come back here again and finish fourth.”

Lakeland finished fourth at state in 2019 at Coeur d’Alene High.

“We’re only losing two seniors, so they’ve got a lot of potential to come back and win next year,” Kiefer said. “It’s been a lot of work this season. I’ve spent so much time with this group of girls over the last few years. It’s going to be really different knowing this is my last game ever.”

Terzulli has been on the varsity for three years at Lakeland.

“It’s been tough the last two years not to be here, so we’re really happy that we made it,” Terzulli said. “Even though we didn’t make it all the way, I’m just really happy and proud of this team.”

Bonneville won the first two sets, capturing the momentum after Lakeland had built a 18-14 lead late in the second set. The Bees jumped out to an 11-3 advantage in the third set and fought off a late rally to close out the match.

Junior Ziya Munyer had nine kills and four blocks, Kiefer 14 digs, Terzulli 11 assists and five digs, junior Landree Simon six kills and 23 digs, junior Addy Jo Hocking 23 digs and junior Olivia Zazuetta 13 assists for Lakeland.

“I think everyone knows us, who our bigs are and how to work around them,” Badger said. “That’s what we need to work on a little bit is mixing up the ball a little bit next year and not just rely on Ziya and Landree as much as we have.”

“We knew they had some really nice athletes,” Bonneville coach Chantal McMurtrey said. “That No. 11 (Munyer), she can take some swings, so we had to figure out how to slow her down. They ran a pretty good offense, so we knew we were going to have a dog fight today. We had a lot of hitting errors in the first set, and had to make some changes. We knew if we served tough, we could keep them out of their rotation, and that’s what kind of broke the game open.”

“It was a great season,” Badger said. “At one point, we had six kids injured. To come this far, I’m super proud of them.”

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Lakeland High sophomore Alyssa Ryckman goes up for a kill against Bonneville during the second set of Saturday's state 4A volleyball tournament match at Post Falls High.