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

Idaho 5A volleyball: Viks finish fourth; Idaho Falls repeats

Coeur d’Alene’s run in the 5A state volleyball tournament hit a detour midway through the third set against Centennial.

The Patriots seized momentum with a 12-1 run and closed out the Vikings in four sets Saturday at Post Falls High School. Coeur d’Alene (26-7) settled for fourth place after falling 20-25, 25-21, 13-25, 20-25.

Idaho Falls (38-6) repeated as state champions, defeating District 6 rival Bonneville twice Saturday – 15-25, 25-17, 13-25, 27-25, 15-11 in the finale – to cap a 4-0 tournament. The Bees (28-14) went 0-6 this season against Idaho Falls, which won its sixth title in coach Wendy Johnson’s 16 seasons.

Centennial (17-7) finished third after losing to Bonneville in five sets.

The Coeur d’Alene-Centennial match was as even as possible, tied at 1-1, with several long, entertaining rallies featuring great digs by both teams. That continued into the third set as the Vikings closed within 13-12 when junior setter/outside hitter Ali Williams caught the defense flat-footed with a tip.

But it was all Patriots from there, as Savannah Ipsen, a thorn in the Vikings’ side throughout, painted the line with a spike, starting a decisive 12-1 spurt.

“You never want to go out of the tournament early, but Centennial is a good team that earned their points,” said Coeur d’Alene coach Dee Pottenger, whose team is well-stocked for the future after finishing second and fourth, respectively, the last two seasons. “They have a lot of weapons. I’m proud of my girls for the season they had and proud of them for the way that certain individuals stepped up in situations. Time to start thinking about next year.”

The Vikings called two timeouts trying to stem Centennial’s third-set surge but their attack errors mounted and the opportunistic Patriots pulled away on two Allison O’Harra kills and an Ipsen ace.

“It definitely kind of got in our heads,” CdA senior outside hitter Missy Huddleston said. “They cheer loud and we kind of got down and we made an error and kept making more errors.”

Added Pottenger: “Some of our errors were aggressive errors. The timid errors hurt more.”

Coeur d’Alene (26-7) never led in the fourth set. The Vikings threatened several times but Centennial responded, often with the 6-foot-3 O’Harra and Ipsen slamming kills.

The Montana-bound Huddleston (21 kills, 10 digs and three blocks) and Williams (15 kills, 20 assists and two aces) fueled the offense but Centennial neutralized Coeur d’Alene’s middle blockers, a strong point in the first three games of the tournament.

“They kept us out of system and we weren’t able to run our middles as much as we have been in this tournament,” Pottenger said.