Santos, St. Maries Enjoy Sweet 16th
Fifteen years ago coach Mitch Santos led the St. Maries Lumberjacks to the A-2 District I-II volleyball title. He hasn’t given up the crown yet.
No. 16 came Saturday night at Andrews Gym as the Lumberjacks defeated Kellogg 15-4, 15-8.
The Wildcats would go on to defeat Moscow in the runner-up match 15-8, 15-6 to get the second berth to state, which will be held next Friday and Saturday at Skyline High School in Idaho Falls.
“We were a little tight, but we played consistently well enough tonight to make it to state,” Santos said.
After 16 years, complacency isn’t a problem. Santos was fired up throughout the match, shouting instructions to his team and jumping off the bench in excitement when his team was playing well. Eventually though, there was so much quality play from his team that he stayed on the bench.
The Lumberjacks were led by 10 kills from Kari Burg, one of two seniors on the team. Bridgette O’Dwyer also played well, coming up with seven kills and seven blocks.
“Coach said that our team is only as good as our weakest player and tonight everybody was on,” Burg said.
In the first game, Kellogg jumped out to a 3-2 lead and then disappeared. St. Maries went on a 13-1 run to finish the game, highlighted by Kim Reid serving for five straight points.
The second game was much closer as Kellogg was up 7-5 at one point. Burg would lead a 10-1 comeback to win the match including scoring the last three points.
The Wildcats looked like a different team in the runner-up match as they easily beat Moscow to advance to state for the first time since 1987.
The Bears got out to a 4-1 lead in the first game, but Joey Luchini served the match to a 4-4 tie in what would be the first of many times Luchini stepped up.
“We don’t really have a dominant player on the team, so it was surprising that Joey played that well,” Kellogg coach Laurie Roberts said.
Luchini, who ended the match with five kills, scored the last four points of a 7-1 Wildcat run to close out the first game. The second game was all Kellogg as Luchini held serve for six straight points to open the game.
In the first match of the day, Kellogg defeated Moscow 15-12, 9-15, 15-7. In the other opener, St. Maries beat Bonners Ferry 15-8, 15-5. Moscow then went on to defeat Bonners Ferry in the first loser-out game 15-9, 13-15, 15-10.
The All-Intermountain League team was also decided at the end of the tournament. The team consisted of Amber Jamison (Lakeland), Alicia Adams (St. Maries), Bridgette O’Dwyer (St. Maries), Kari Burg (St. Maries), Amy Lemon (Kellogg), Jacey Vogrig (Priest River), Rachel Downing (Bonners Ferry), Andrea Thomas (Moscow), Cassie Beyer (Lakeland) and Amber Paulson (Bonners Ferry).
Other playoffs
Lake City’s bid for a state berth fell into a hole.
The Timberwolves fell behind in each game and could never recover, falling to Capital of Boise 15-10, 15-17, 15-13 in an A-1 playoff at Grangeville.
LC (13-11 overall) fell behind 9-3 in the opening game, 9-1 in the second game and 8-2 in the third. In the games they lost, the T-Wolves bounced back to take leads. But they couldn’t finish off the Eagles.
“(Capital) came out fired up and we dug ourselves a hole,” LC coach Kent Scanlon said. “You just can’t do that against a team that’s playing with a lot of heart and expect to win. We just weren’t playing as well as we could today.”
Oliva Sementi led LC with six kills. Jenna Orton had four aces. Capital was led by Kata Stosich’s seven kills and Jennifer Bennett’s seven aces.
The field is set for the State A-1 Tournament, which will be held next Friday and Saturday at Skyline High School in Idaho Falls.
Region I champion Coeur d’Alene (19-4) will play Eagle in the final firstround match Friday at 1:30 p.m. PDT.
In other openers, Minico takes on Capital, Centennial meets last year’s state runner-up Hillcrest and Bonneville, considered the pre-tournament favorite, meets Boise.
In an A-3 playoff for a state berth, Orofino downed Wallace 15-8, 15-6. Orofino won 15-8, 15-6 at Moscow.
Wallace ends the season at 14-11.
A-4 District I
North Star League champion Clark Fork backed up the conference title by earning a state berth.
Clark Fork (13-10) downed Lakeside 15-12, 15-2 in the district title match at Clark Fork.
Earlier Saturday, Clark Fork defeated Falls Christian 15-6, 15-1 and Lakeside 5-15, 15-3, 15-12.
The Wampus Cats will meet the District III runner-up in a state opener next Friday at Bonneville High School in Idaho Falls.
In other district matches, Lakeside defeated Kootenai 18-16, 15-12; Falls Christian defeated Kootenai 15-13, 13-15, 15-7; and Lakeside defeated Falls Christian 15-8, 12-15, 15-7.