Hopes Die Early For Local Spikers

State volleyball

It was a day of wet shoulders and red, puffy eyes Saturday as three northern Idaho volleyball teams saw their dreams of a state title end before lunch.

St. Maries failed to advance to the state title game for the first time in 13 years, but coach Mitch Santos didn’t let his players pout. After Preston beat his Lumberjacks 15-9, 15-7 in a loser-out game, Santos was giving his players high-fives on the court.

“Our goals were to come down here and play well, as is the case every year,” Santos said. “The media decides where we’re supposed to place.”

In other games involving local schools, Wood River knocked Kellogg out of the A-2 ranks 15-9, 15-3. On the adjacent, A-1 court, Centennial eliminated Coeur d’Alene 15-5, 6-15, 15-13.

In the A-1 title match, Bonneville defeated Hillcrest, 17-15, 15-7 to complete its unbeaten tournament run. In the A-2 final, Emmitt dumped Preston 15-13, 15-9.

St. Maries, which won 10 straight titles from 1984 to 1993, now has been knocked out of the tournament by Preston three consecutive years. Still, Santos was upbeat.

“Anybody that has an eye for volleyball could see we were a little bit outmanned,” Santos said.

Preston’s Kaycee Paskins, a 6-foot southpaw, overwhelmed St. Maries at the net. The senior’s powerful, left-handed spike was good for 11 kills.

Bridgette O’Dwyer led St. Maries with seven kills and seven blocks. Jamie Hammes also had seven kills, and Kari Burg finished with 20 digs. St. Maries ended its season 19-7.

Coeur d’Alene ousted

The final match of Angie Shirley’s high school career ended in disappointment as Coeur d’Alene lost leads of 11-6 and 13-10 in the third and deciding game.

Still, Shirley kept a dry eye as her teammates walked around in tears. The 6-2 middle blocker will attend Oregon State on a volleyball scholarship next year, and she took the loss more analytically than emotionally.

“We had a lot of things that happened (Friday) that we needed to change, and we changed them,” Shirley said. “We closed our block, served better and played tough as a team.”

Centennial served sporadically, but coach Steve Bartlett said that was by design, in a sense. He knew his Patriots would need to be aggressive with their serves if they wanted to combat the Vikings’ height at the net.

Shirley finished with five kills and four solo blocks. Sophomore teammate Kelly Stern added four kills and three solo blocks. Kimi Towery had eight digs.

Coeur d’Alene finished the season at 21-6.

Kellogg falls

Kellogg was overmatched against Wood River.

“I don’t mean to insult my team, but we were overachievers,” Kellogg coach Laurie Roberts said. “We’re not great athletes.”

Wood River was threatened for a moment in the first game when Kellogg cut the lead to 11-9, but that was as close as it got.

Melissa Hei played well for the Wildcats, who finished the season 18-8.