Sandpoint Perfect In Regulation Bulldogs Rout Cda To Finish Regular-Season Unbeaten; Lewiston Knocks Off Lake City

The Sandpoint High School volleyball team put an appropriate finish on an unblemished regular-season record Thursday.

The Bulldogs, who clinched their fifth straight Inland Empire League earlier in the week, rolled Coeur d’Alene out of its own gym in a 15-2, 15-8 win.

But the Vikings were winners in another way Thursday, as across town Lewiston knocked Lake City out of the running for an all-important runner-up seeding in next week’s regional tournament. The Bengals moved into a tie for second with CdA by disposing of the Timberwolves 15-13, 15-9.

CdA (4-3 in league, 17-18 overall) and Lewiston (4-3, 13-8) will meet in a regular-season finale Saturday at Lewiston. The winner will earn the No. 2 seed into the regional tourney and a first-round host berth.

LC (2-5, 13-10), meanwhile, will entertain Post Falls (0-7, 5-17) Saturday in a final match then the T-Wolves will turn around and host the Trojans again Monday in a loser-out playoff to decide the fourth seed to regional.

At CdA, the Bulldogs (8-0, 20-0) were unstoppable, especially in the first game.

Behind powerful 6-foot middle hitter Tiwi Bond, Sandpoint opened an 12-0 lead. Bond had four of her match-high 10 kills in the first game.

During the opening-game run, Sandpoint’s Mandy Ringhand had two aces. All six Bulldog starters had a hand in the match victory.

CdA’s two points in the first game came off unforced Sandpoint errors. A dump by setter Stacey Moline and a kill by Tanya Allmaras closed out the first game.

The second game started with much confusion. After the referees sorted things out, a point was taken away from the Bulldogs for having an illegal player in their lineup and a point was awarded to CdA when Sandpoint coach Jeff Hurst drew a red card for slamming his fist on the scorer’s table.

CdA, buoyed by a boisterous crowd, took a 7-6 lead on a kill by Jill Pederson. But it was all Sandpoint thereafter. Two aces by left-hander Jenna Verby and two errors by CdA pushed the Bulldogs ahead 10-7.

Sandpoint ended the match with two aces by Bond, kills by Allmaras and Moline and a block from middle hitter Alli Nieman, who finished with seven kills.

“Our kids are so pumped and playing so good,” said Hurst, whose team extended its winning streak to 25 dating back to last year’s state tourney. “Our kids want to win so bad they’re diving for balls all over the court. We’ve got 6-foot tall girls (Bond and Nieman) diving and picking up fist balls and pancake balls. It’s just exciting volleyball.”

CdA played gamely without starting setter Kimi Towery, who had to make an emergency trip to California after learning an uncle and aunt were killed in a car accident involving a drunken driver.

Towery is expected to return Saturday for the Viks’ critical match at Lewiston.

“We did a good job without our setter, they played hard defense and stayed enthusiastic through the whole (match),” CdA coach Karla Mitchell said. “I saw some good things, but we were a little scared without our setter.”

At Lake City, the Bengals jumped off the bus and promptly jumped on the T-Wolves, streaking to an 11-0 lead in the first game.

LC fought back, tying the game at 12-all on a dink by setter Sarah Perry and taking a 13-12 lead on a Lewiston error.

But Lewiston regained its composure after a time out 6-2 middle blocker Laura Bloom had two kills and a block to give the Bengals the opening game.

LC bounced back briefly in the second game by taking a 7-1 lead. But the T-Wolves, who made a host of unforced errors, returned to their mistake-prone ways as Lewiston rallied.

LC was led by five kills each from Heather Stetson and Jenny Owen.

Falls Christian (7-1, 13-11) finished North Star

League play tied for first place with Clark Fork after a 15-4, 15-9 win at Mullan.

The teams must flip a coin to determine the No. 1 seed to the district tournament.

Audrey Wallace had seven kills, Trish Taylor 10 assists and Sally Lyons six aces for the Eagles. Misti Machuga had two kills and Tiahna Steinhart three blocks for the third-place Tigers (3-5, 8-11).

The tight race for second place in the Intermountain League became tighter when visiting Kellogg (4-5, 7-11) beat second-place Priest River 16-14, 4-15, 16-14.

In completing their league schedule, the Spartans are 5-5, 15-5, one-half game ahead of Kellogg and Bonners Ferry. Carlyn Hughes had seven kills and Renie Stiles four kills and seven aces for PR.

Jessica Venard had six kills and Sarah Walter eight assists as host Bonners Ferry (9-12) beat 18-6 Wallace 15-8, 15-13 in a non-league match.

, DataTimes