Balance pays dividends as LC tops CdA

It’s not that the Lake City High volleyball team has an overpowering attack. Far from it.

But at least the Timberwolves have a handful of players willing to take a swing at the ball.

That was the big difference Wednesday when LC held off cross-town rival Coeur d’Alene 25-18, 25-22, 29-27 in an Inland Empire League match played before an estimated crowd of 500 at Elmer Jordan Court.

LC’s foursome of Renee Bordelon, Amy Lawson, Kristi Tuntland and Lynn Hoppert combined for 30 kills. That easily offset the Vikings’ one-player attack.

CdA senior outside hitter Jenna Griffitts was the definition of overpowering as evidenced by the 12 divots she put in the gym floor. But the scrappy Vikings offered nothing to complement her.

The victory kept LC atop the league at 5-0 (6-1 overall). CdA slipped to 1-4, 1-2.

LC’s win came a night after it beat traditional league power Sandpoint for the first time since 1997. Playing so soon after that triumph had T-Wolf coach Kent Scanlon more than a tad concerned.

Fearful that he would incite needless anxiousness if he said something, Scanlon didn’t give his players a hint that he thought they needed to be on guard for a letdown.

“You never have to remind the kids that they’re playing Coeur d’Alene: There’s that natural cross-town rivalry,” Scanlon said. “It’s a healthy (rivalry). And after that win (Tuesday) our confidence is very high. But I thought our bodies were a little tired (Wednesday).”

LC built comfortable leads in the first two games before extinguishing minor Vikings rallies.

In the third game, the T-Wolves found themselves trailing 22-18 and facing the possibility of playing a fourth game.

But LC staved off three game points before using a kill from Lawson and a kill from Hoppert to secure the win.

Scanlon was pleased with his team’s balance.

“As you saw, we had four kids in the neighborhood of eight or nine kills,” he said. “Lauren (Stern) does a heckuva job of spreading out the offense.”

Poor passing and serve receive handcuffed CdA early. It took nearly a full game before Griffitts could get unleashed.

“To be honest, we didn’t see anything that we haven’t seen from other teams,” CdA coach Carly Curtis said. “It’s just a matter of us making our adjustments and putting the ball back at them.”

Griffitts’ all-around play was sensational. She had 32 digs to go with her 12 kills.