Expect Net Gains In ‘97 Panhandle Teams Should Rebound

The St. Maries High School volleyball team hopes to return to the top of the State A-2 heap this fall.

St. Maries hasn’t fallen too far from the top.

Although the perennial powerhouse program hasn’t captured a state championship since 1993, it has two runner-up trophies in the past three years.

It’s what St. Maries didn’t do last year that is particularly noteworthy as it returned from the state tourney without a trophy for the first time since 1980.

Last year marked the first time since volleyball became a sanctioned high school sport in Idaho two decades ago that no Panhandle team collected a state trophy.

Don’t be alarmed. It shouldn’t become a trend.

St. Maries figures to challenge for gold, and the Inland Empire League’s top team could do the same in A-1 play.

St. Maries coach Mitch Santos, usually reserved when talking about the end-of-season goals, wants another championship banner.

”(The girls) are a little bit more on a mission this year,” Santos said. “Maybe we all made some assumptions and need to work a little harder. In years past we’ve probably gone there thinking we can play well and the other teams will roll over. There’s been improvement statewide.

“There’s no question about it; we’re in the title hunt.”

The State A-1 and A-2 tournaments will be held at Lake City High School, Oct. 31-Nov. 1. The State A-3 and A-4 tournaments will be held the same weekend in Lewiston.

Area teams opened their seasons this week. Here’s a look at how they can qualify for state.

A-1

Lake City and Sandpoint are the teams expected to challenge for the IEL championship and the region’s automatic state berth.

LC’s Timberwolves have the potential to dominate the league. But Sandpoint, the team with the richest tradition among A-1 teams, will prove to be a worthy challenge.

The regional runner-up can earn a state berth in a playoff with District III.

A-2

As usual, the Intermountain League will send two teams to state.

St. Maries is the perennial owner of the No. 1 seed, leaving the other five league teams to battle for the runner-up seed.

And it should be quite a battle. No one team could be tagged as the best of the rest. The coaches expect it to be wide open.

A-3

The region’s lone A-3 team, Wallace, hopes another year of seasoning for a youthful team will have the Miners poised to challenge for a state berth at year’s end.

As an independent, Wallace must qualify for state through the traditionally tough District II Tournament.

A-4

The North Star League sends one team to state.

Defending champ Clark Fork figured to be the easy favorite after last year - especially with several lettermen returning and some talented freshmen.

But the Wampus Cats lost five players to transfer. Perhaps the biggest loss was setter Jennifer Derr, who started as a freshman last year. She’s starting at Lake City.

The league race should be tight among as many as four teams.

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