Sandpoint, Cda Shake Off Opponents

Two North Idaho high school volleyball leagues began postseason play Tuesday while seeding for a district tournament in a third league was determined.

In the Inland Empire League’s A-1 Region I Tournament, top-seeded and defending state champion Sandpoint shook off some spotty play to down No. 4 Lake City 15-13, 15-10 at Sandpoint.

In the other first-round match at Lewiston, No. 3 Coeur d’Alene rebounded from a shaky start to knock off the second-seeded Bengals 8-15, 15-6, 15-3.

Sandpoint (21-0) and Coeur d’Alene (18-19) will meet in the championship match Thursday when the regional tournament concludes at Lake City High School. The match begins at 7.

In a loser-out match preceding the title showdown, Lake City (15-11) takes on Lewiston (14-10) at 5:30.

Sandpoint coach Jeff Hurst was glad to survive the regional opener.

“We were incredibly tentative, amazingly tentative,” Hurst said. “It was not the typical Sandpoint effort of two weeks ago. But overall our seniors displayed their maturity and experience in the end.”

Lake City jumped out to leads in both games. The Timberwolves led 9-4 in the first game, and the score was tied at 13-all before Sandpoint scored the final two points.

The T-Wolves opened a 4-1 lead in the second game, but Sandpoint finally tied the score at 10-all before the Bulldogs scored the final five points. Alli Nieman recorded a kill for the match winner.

Hurst said the match wasn’t close just because his team played passively at times. “Lake City played well and passed the ball well,” he said.

At Lewiston, the Bengals easily won the first game. But Bengal coach Laura Horton said her team’s play fell off measurably in the second and third games.

“Coeur d’Alene started serving us off the court and we couldn’t convert defense into offense,” Horton said.

Andrea Gomez led Lewiston with six kills and four blocks. Horton praised the play of Viking middle hitter Angie Shirley and outside hitter Jessica Janke.

At Plummer, Lakeside earned a berth in the North Star League’s district tournament with a 15-11, 15-8 victory over Kootenai in a loser-out seeding playoff.

Lakeside (3-18) will enter the A-4 District I Tournament at Kootenai High School on Saturday as the No. 4 seed. The Knights will take on No. 1 and co-NSL champ Falls Christian (13-11) in the tourney opener at 10 a.m.

Lakeside’s well-placed serves took control of the match Tuesday. After a tight first game, Lakeside opened a 7-0 lead in the second to cruise to the win.

Harmony Hammons led Lakeside with three kills and two blocks.

At Kellogg, visiting Lakeland forced a four-way tie for third in the Intermountain League as the Hawks rallied for a 14-16, 15-7, 15-13 victory.

With the win, Lakeland (4-6 in league, 9-11 overall) finished tied with Kellogg (4-6, 7-12), Bonners Ferry (4-6, 9-13) and Moscow (4-6, 7-11). Lakeland’s win also secured second place and a first-round bye for Priest River (5-5, 15-8). St. Maries (9-1, 20-4) captured the league title and No. 1 seed in the district tournament.

Coin flips were held immediately following the Lakeland-Kellogg match to determine seeding for first-round loser-out district matches Thursday.

Lakeland will be seeded last at No. 6 and must travel to No. 3 Moscow while Kellogg was seeded fourth and will entertain No. 5 Bonners Ferry. Both matches Thursday begin at 6:30 p.m.

GSL volleyball

The league title belongs to Gonzaga Prep for the first time.

Jennifer Williams had 16 kills and 19 digs Tuesday as G-Prep (13-0) stopped second-place Ferris 13-15, 15-7, 15-12, 15-13 at Prep.

The Bullpups lead Ferris (10-3) by three with three matches to go. Even if G-Prep falls apart, it swept Ferris this year and has earned the top spot to the District 8-AAA Tournament.

Prep led the first game 12-4 before the Saxons rallied for the win. The Bullpups built significant leads thereafter.

Brandy Barratt had 22 kills and Story Tombari 47 assists for Prep. Lea Ruhl led Ferris with nine kills and 19 digs.

Lewis and Clark (8-5) scored the final five points of the first game and jumped to an 8-0 lead in the fourth game to beat visiting North Central 15-12, 15-12, 6-15, 15-6 and tie the Indians for third place.

Two Sarah Hiss kills helped LC score five consecutive second-game points. NC built a 6-4 lead in the third game, then scored eight of the next nine points.

Hiss had 20 kills and nine blocks. Tamara Van Engelen had 26 kills and four blocks, and Aimee Wilson 19 digs for the Indians.

University (8-6) came back from a 10-8 first-game deficit and a 6-1 third-game deficit to beat visiting Mead 15-11, 15-5, 15-11.

Devon Bakken, Sally Jamison and Megan McInturff had nine kills apiece for U-Hi. Jessica Sanborn had six kills, six digs and seven blocks for the Panthers (5-9), who have a one-half game lead over Shadle Park for the sixth and final spot to district.

Mandy Flores’ three aces, 19 digs and six blocks led Rogers (2-11) out of the cellar with a 7-15, 15-8, 15-13, 17-15 win over visiting Central Valley (2-12).

Teana Scott had 17 kills and six blocks, and Monica Abrahamson the final two blocks of the match for the Pirates, who swept CV this year. Jessica Sackman had 24 assists and three aces for the Bears.

, DataTimes