Lake City Catches Post Falls In Region

Rebounding in a variety of ways, Lake City overcame a first-game collapse to upend Post Falls 9-15, 15-1, 15-11 in an A-1 Region I Tournament volleyball opener Tuesday.

In the other opener, Inland Empire League champ and top-seeded Sandpoint breezed past visiting Lewiston 15-5, 15-1.

Third-seeded Lake City (10-10 overall) will take on Sandpoint (18-3) in the championship match Thursday when the tourney concludes at Sandpoint. The match will begin at about 7 p.m. following a loser-out opener between second seed Post Falls (14-9) and No. 4 Lewiston (5-14) at 5:30.

The regional champ advances to state, which will be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Lake City.

In a final match following the championship showdown, the first-match survivor will meet the loser of the title match for a berth in a cross-district playoff to decide another state spot.

LC coach Kent Scanlon didn’t tell his team the thoughts circling in his head after the opening game Tuesday. But he thought his Timberwolves were prime for defeat, especially after LC had stormed to a 6-0 lead only to watch it dissolve.

LC briefly stopped Post Falls’ 10-1 run to pull within 10-8 on a stuff block by Lindsay Herbert. But an LC hitting error coupled with a kill by Cindy Holland allowed Post Falls to seize the momentum. The Trojans used an ace by Janelle Ruen and a kill by Shandy Mills off a serve-receive error to secure the first game.

It was all LC in the second game. Behind effective serving and setting from sophomore setter Jennifer Derr, the T-Wolves opened a 10-0 lead. Not even two timeouts during a 9-0 stretch could deter LC.

Two kills and a tough tip by 6-foot-4-1/2 senior Alison Asher and a tip off a freeball by Kellie Stern forced a third game.

Like it did in the first game, LC built a 6-0 lead in the deciding game. But Post Falls answered by tying the match at 6.

Both teams seemed to settle in for a battle the final 15 minutes. Behind tough serving from Brianne Taylor and some scrambling play in transition, LC took a 9-6 lead.

In one of their best offensive streaks since earlier in the match, the Trojans rallied for an 11-9 advantage.

Then Asher took over at the net, slam dunking two freeballs during a deciding 5-0 stretch.

LC had its best moments when Post Falls’ thunder-hitter Ruen was trapped by rotation in the back row.

It was LC’s first win against Post Falls in three tries.

“What we had to do was overcome Post Falls’ confidence,” Scanlon said. “They’re playing at home and coming off (two wins) over us. It was difficult, as evidenced by the fact that they won the first game after we had them right where we wanted them.”

Herbert led LC with 11 kills, Stern had seven and Asher added five. Ruen and Sandra Juhlin had four kills each for the Trojans.

Post Falls coach Karla Merrill expects her team to rebound.

“We can come back,” Merrill said. “(The T-Wolves) established their hitting game early and we weren’t digging well. Both teams had a lot of errors. It wasn’t a clean match.”

At Sandpoint, Bulldogs coach Jeff Hurst was pleased his team took care of business.

Sandpoint connected on 43 of 44 serves. Jennifer Jeffres led with four aces and had a team-high six kills.

“The kids came out solid,” Hurst said. “Not to discredit (the Bengals), but they didn’t do anything to hurt us.”

Sandpoint is looking forward to redeeming itself after losing to LC last week.

“It’s going to be all you want,” Hurst said. “It’s going to be a tough match.”

Katie Hess had nine kills, and she and Ashley Ruen had four aces apiece as Clark Fork (10-9) defeated visiting Kootenai 15-11, 12-15, 15-7 in a loser-out, A-4 District I playoff.

The Warriors finished 8-10. Clark Fork, the No. 4 seed, opens the district tourney at Lakeside High in Plummer on Saturday against No. 1 Falls Christian (11-2). CF owns two consecutive wins over the Eagles.

One team will advance to state after the day-long tourney.

Girls soccer

Jessica Presnell forced overtime with a goal at 80 minutes, and visiting Lewiston (8-6-2) eliminated Lake City (8-6-3) from the North Idaho League district tournament with a 3-2 shootout win at Coeur d’Alene.

The fifth-seeded Bengals jumped to a 3-0 lead in the shootout, negating a need for the final two attempts. The No. 4 Timberwolves had two attempts blocked and one hit the bar during the shootout.

The teams played two 5-minute overtimes before the shootout. LC led 2-1 on Hayley Shortridge’s goal at 42 minutes.

The teams had played a pair of regular-season routs, 5-0 for LC at CdA and 5-1 on the Bengals’ field.

Lewiston advances to a 4 p.m. Thursday match at league champion Sandpoint (13-1-2). The winner plays for the district title Saturday. Three teams advance to state.

Elsewhere, halfback Holly Davidson scored twice to lead No. 3 Moscow (13-4) to a 7-0 win over No. 6 Lakeland (3-10-3). Bears midfielder Laura Minnick added one goal and two assists. Moscow advances to a 4 p.m. Thursday match at No. 2 Coeur d’Alene.

, DataTimes