St. Maries unbeaten while Timberlake stays alive

The St. Maries Lumberjacks had a taste of humble pie when Timberlake upset them for the 3A District 1 volleyball title a week ago.

Fast forward to the State 3A tournament Friday at Coeur d’Alene High School, and that bitter flavor in the ‘Jacks’ mouths has turned decidedly sweeter.

St. Maries made it through the first day of state unscathed, knocking off the Diggers of Sugar-Salem in the winners bracket 23-25, 25-16, 25-10, 25-20. Earlier in the day, the ‘Jacks opened with a sweep of Snake River, 25-12, 25-22, 25-21.

In the final match of the late evening, Timberlake stayed alive, eliminating Bear Lake (10-9) 25-10, 25-23, 24-26, 21-25, 15-4. The Tigers (19-12) face another loser-out match this morning at 10:30 against Sugar-Salem (20-17).

In their opening match, the Tigers came out flat and fell to defending state champ Shelley, 25-19, 25-17, 25-16.

The Lumberjacks (26-4) take on undefeated Middleton (18-0) today at noon. The winner earns a spot in the championship match, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. A second championship match, if necessary, would follow at 7.

Middleton defeated Shelley in a five-game nail-biter, 25-17, 22-25, 15-25, 27-25, 18-16 to advance to the championship semifinal.

Shelley (30-15) meets Gooding (12-5) in a loser-out match this morning at 9. The Senators moved on by eliminating Snake River in four games, 25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-21.

In other first-round matches, both thrillers, Sugar-Salem defeated Gooding 17-25, 25-21, 16-25, 25-19, 15-12 and Middleton outlasted Bear Lake 23-25, 25-19, 25-15, 12-25, 16-14.

St. Maries outside hitter Jenna Robinson, who had 17 kills, four aces and five digs against the Diggers, said she and her teammates are single-minded about returning their school to the top of 3A volleyball in the state.

“I think we were a little shell-shocked, because Sugar-Salem came out really strong,” the senior said. “We knew what we wanted and we came down here, the four of us seniors, knowing it’s our last time we’ll ever play together and we want to make it happen.

“After that first game, we said, ‘No way are we letting that happen again,’ and we just came back and won those next three games.”

St. Maries, which has made it to state eight times since its string of 10 straight state championships ended in 1993, came out firing against Snake River in the opening match of the tournament, getting big hitting from both Robinson and senior middle hitter Kelsi Lee.

Lee, who led the way with 19 kills against Snake River, said none of her team’s exploits would be possible without senior setter Erin Sather.

“She’s kind of like our quarterback,” Lee said of Sather, who had a whopping 41 assists against Sugar-Salem. “She works her butt off, and without her, we wouldn’t have the quick-hitting offense that we do.”

Lee looked ahead to today’s action.

“We’re going to have to work extra hard, because we’re getting close to the championship,” Lee said. “I know we all want it, but we’re going to have to work harder than we’ve ever worked before.”

Timberlake never quite got started in its opening match, committing nine hitting errors in the first game alone.

The Tigers cut down on the errors in the second and third games, but were plagued by inconsistent play and inability to get the set near the net.

Coach Michelle Garwood said it may have been a classic case of nervousness in the team’s first match at state.

“It took us five or six points to finally come around, and, by then, you’re digging yourself out of a hole,” Garwood said. “We weren’t getting the passes, so our setter was off the net and our sets were off the net.

“Our hitters were not adjusting very well to (Shelley) – they have a pretty big block over there, and I think we were playing a little scared.”