Sandpoint Takes Over First In Iel

Prep volleyball

The location will probably change, but the teams should be the same when the Inland Empire League crowns a regional volleyball champion in three weeks.

The Sandpoint-Post Falls showdown Thursday served as an entertaining prelude to what could be an equally intense state-qualifying regional tourney.

Sandpoint took the first meeting. But what started as a possible blowout turned out to be more than the Bulldogs expected as they held off a furious Post Falls rally 15-6, 12-15, 15-13 at Post Falls’ gym.

The Bulldogs moved into first place by themselves at 4-0, 14-2 overall. The loss knocked the Trojans out of first (4-1, 11-4).

The teams turn around and face off Tuesday at Sandpoint. The Bulldogs would all but lock up the league title and regional host berth with a victory. The Trojans could make things messy with a win.

“Win, lose or draw, that was just an awesome atmosphere for a high school volleyball match,” Sandpoint coach Jeff Hurst said. “The band was playing, it was noisy and both teams played well.”

Indeed. And the match lasted at least 15 minutes longer than Hurst desired, perhaps longer.

After an efficient win in the opening game in which six Bulldogs contributed kills, Sandpoint’s momentum came to an abrupt halt in the middle game.

To its credit, Post Falls managed to flush the memory of the first game out of its mind. The Trojans scored six consecutive points through 10 sideout situations for a 10-2 lead. Saundra Juhlin, Shandy Mills and Janelle Ruen provided kills during the spurt.

Both teams took advantage of mistakes. Post Falls was especially rattled when Sandpoint, behind the serving of Jennifer Jeffres, rolled off seven straight points to pull within 14-12.

It appeared Post Falls scored game point when a Bulldog was called for a lift. The Trojans began to celebrate before the up referee called for a replay.

No problem. A Sandpoint kill on the replay sailed long.

Sandpoint opened a 9-2 lead in the third game, extending it to 13-4 behind a sinking ace by Jessica Lippi, two crushing kills and a block by freshman Rochelle Ruen, Janelle’s cousin.

But the Trojans gamely fought back, fending off match point opportunity after opportunity.

Trailing 14-9, the Trojans jumped on the shoulders of Janelle Ruen and she pulled them within 14-13 with two critical kills.

But a kill for a sideout by Jenae Cates and a soft off-net hit by Cates on match point secured the win.

“I don’t often single out players, and I know Janelle gets a lot of kudos, but she earned some kudos at the end of the third game,” Post Falls coach Karla Merrill said. “She was amazing. That was a great demonstration of her volleyball skills.”

Ruen led the Trojans with nine kills and two aces.

Although several Bulldogs factored in the victory, Rochelle Ruen and Megan Lippi each had 12 kills. Cates added six.

Lippi’s cousin, Megan, did a splendid job spreading the offense around at setter. She had 25 assists and four aces.

Also in the IEL, Brianne Taylor had five kills and four of her team’s 10 aces as Lake City (6-8, 2-2) defeated visiting Lewiston 15-7, 15-12.

Lindsay Herbert added four kills and four blocks, and Jennifer Derr 22 assists for the Timberwolves. The Bengals are 3-9, 1-4.

Kellogg (3-9, 1-5) scored the final three points of the match to defeat visiting Bonners Ferry 2-15, 15-5, 16-14 in the Intermountain League.

The Wildcats led the final game 13-8 before the Badgers (8-10, 3-4) scored six consecutive points. BF’s Sara Stolley served 12 consecutive points in the first game. Haley Reese finished with 10 digs and Amber Goodson five kills for Kellogg.

Kara Swank had 13 digs, and she and Courtney Goetz added 13 kills apiece to lead visiting Moscow (6-7, 4-3) to a 15-6, 11-15, 15-4 win over Lakeland (7-5, 2-3) at Rathdrum.

Lakeland’s Cassie Beyer served the final six points of the second game. Anna Houchin and Megan Egbert added 12 blocks apiece for the Hawks.

, DataTimes