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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Highlanders hold off Ferris by winning three of last four

Shadle Park took something away from its third-place finish last weekend at the Kentlake Invitational. That something – composure – played a major part in the Highlanders’ 21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-27, 15-8 Greater Spokane League volleyball victory at Ferris on Tuesday.

That didn’t make the night any less traumatic for coach Brooke Cooper.

“I can’t breathe,” she said while savoring the outcome that tied the Highlanders with the Saxons and Gonzaga Prep at 4-2 and in fifth place.

The Highlanders had squandered several leads, the latest at 16-11 and were outscored 14-5 down the stretch to drop the first game. But they held on following an early 15-3 surge to win the second game.

Shadle’s Catie Schuetzle served nine consecutive points, including three aces, for a 13-4 start en route to the third-game victory. Ferris trailed the fourth game 23-19 before rallying and forcing a fifth.

Schuetzle put on a hitting clinic down the stretch of Shadle’s dominant fifth game to defeat the error-prone hosts.

“We needed to win a close one like this or play a team this tough and be able to come out on top,” said Cooper. “It’s going to be a confidence booster.”

Less than two weeks before, the Saxons had beaten the Highlanders in four games in a non-counter. But both Cooper and Allison Bjerkestrand, whose all-around game complemented Schuetzle’s power, said it was the tournament in Kent last weekend that turned the tide.

That was the case, although regular Reannan Ortman is out with an injury. Cooper said younger players, outside hitter Stacy Andersen in particular, stepped in to get the job done. Andersen had seven kills and a stuff block, was instrumental in Shadle’s third-game victory and served five consecutive points in the match decider.

“This weekend we finally came together and did our jobs,” said Bjerkestrand, “(Tonight) everyone was ‘on’ this game and really worked hard.”

Schuetzle, who had 17 kills and five service aces, elevated her game over the weekend.

“She was outstanding in the tournament and she just soared tonight,” said Cooper. “We really are a different team.”

Ferris’ problems were the same ones that cost the Saxons last week against University.

“We just didn’t play very consistently and made too many mistakes, too many unforced errors,” said coach Stacey Ward. “Passing errors, serving errors, hitting errors, bad set selection sometimes … we were shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Back row woes hurt Ferris, particularly during the third-game loss. In the final contest, said Ward, the offense took too many tip shots instead of pounding at the Highlanders.

“You’re not going to win on tips in the fifth game,” said Ward. “They (Shadle) stepped it up when it mattered.”

Also in the GSL, Central Valley (1-5) scored a 23-25, 25-15, 12-25, 25-23, 15-10 win at East Valley (0-6). Ashlee Lupfer led CV in kills, aces and digs. Angie Smith had 22 kills for EV. … Mead and University remained unbeaten and on a collision course for Tuesday’s match at Mead. Mead (6-0) swept visiting Gonzaga Prep 25-14, 25-18, 25-17 after leading by two points in game three. Mead’s Lacey Anderson had 34 assists and nine digs. U-Hi (6-0) topped visiting North Central (3-3), 25-21, 18-25, 25-20, 25-11. For U-Hi, Mandy Daniels had 21 kills and 22 assists, Kara Crisp 44 sets and Daidre Mendenhall eight blocks. … Mt. Spokane (5-1) defeated visiting West Valley (1-5) 25-17, 25-17, 25-14. Lauren Schneidmiller hit .777 and combined with Katrina Johnson of the Wildcats for 13 kills. … Lewis and Clark (5-1) beat visiting Rogers 25-15, 25-9, 25-16. LC’s Ivy Bush had 10 kills and nine digs. … Cheney (1-5) topped visiting Clarkston (1-5), 25-27, 26-24, 25-21, 26-24. Breanna Falor led Cheney in assists and aces, and Meghan Cogley added 15 kills and two blocks.

•In the Great Northern League, Medical Lake’s Nicole Johnson led in three categories during a 25-7, 25-11, 25-17 sweep of visiting Deer Park. The senior middle hitter had five kills, four aces and six digs. … Lakeside received 17 digs from Belinda Buchholz and 13 kills from Kia Gibson in a 16-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21 win over visiting Chewelah at Nine Mile Falls. With game three tied at 15 Lindsey Jelke served six consecutive points to put the Eagles over the top. … Pullman swept visiting Riverside 25-19, 25-9, 25-19.

Girls soccer

Felicia Clark scored in the 72nd minute as Riverside pulled out a 2-1 GNL win over visiting Lakeside. Tracy Bowen broke open a scoreless match with a goal early in the second half for Riverside. Jamara Pyeatt evened the match for the Eagles with a goal at 60 minutes. … Pullman scored three minutes into overtime to take a 2-1 win at Medical Lake. … Chewelah managed to score all three goals in a 2-1 win over visiting Colville. Colville led 1-0 after the Cougars scored an own goal, but Chewelah rallied with a pair of second-half goals.