T-Wolves Get Revenge, Knock Off Viks In Three

Lake City’s volleyball team sought retribution and attained it Friday night by beating the Coeur d’Alene Vikings 15-7, 10-15, 15-4 in its first Inland Empire League match of the season.

The Viks went undefeated against LC last year.

“It was a big game for us and we wanted revenge,” said senior Lindsay Herbert of the T-Wolves, who had been waiting for this match since last year.

More than 300 people showed up to watch the league opener between the rivals.

“These rivalries in the game of volleyball lend themselves to producing an exciting match,” said T-Wolves coach Kent Scanlon. “Volleyball, as much as I don’t like to admit it, is a game of streaks. We came out strong, made a statement and hung in there.”

Brianne Taylor started the match serving eight points, utilizing two aces as LC took an 8-0 lead.

But the Viks slowly rallied within two points after two kills by outside hitter Krissi Ruiz, taking the score to 9-7. Then LC took six of the next seven points to end the first game.

CdA, in the second game, took control with a 7-1 lead despite eight kills by LC and took the match into a third-game tiebreaker.

However, the second-game celebration was short-lived for the Viks. The T-Wolves served six of their 11 aces of the match in that third game.

“They were very nervous out there,” said CdA coach Karla Mitchell, who lost three of her star players last year to graduation. “I think it was good for them. They played well, but they have a long way to go. They’re very young and inexperienced.”

Both Ruiz and sophomore Katie Jo Shirley had four kills for the Viks. Shirley also had two aces and one assist. Setter Heather Hull had 13 assists, one kill and one block.

Herbert dominated for the T-Wolves - 12 kills, four blocks, one assist and two aces. Five-foot-11 junior Laura Dodge ended the night with five kills, as did senior Kelley McCabe. McCabe also had one ace and one assist. Sophomore Jennifer Derr, the LC setter, had 26 assists, one ace and one dig.

Scanlon, whose team’s overall record is 4-5, said he’s ready for a winning streak.

“We’ve played some good teams and lost to them,” said Scanlon. “One thing about my team is, because we don’t play anything in the off-season, our confidence goes quickly. But we’ve got it back.”