St. Maries runner-up; Tigers 3rd

Talk about a great day for area teams in the State 3A volleyball tournament.

When all was said and done Saturday at Coeur d’Alene High School, the undefeated Middleton Vikings defeated St. Maries to win the state championship.

The Lumberjacks, though, had very little to complain about as they hoisted the second-place trophy.

Timberlake brought home some hardware as well, getting up early to defeat Sugar-Salem and take revenge on Shelley before falling to St. Maries in the third-place match in four games, 24-26, 25-19, 25-12, 25-14.

Earlier in the day, Shelley (31-16) eliminated Gooding (13-6) 3-1, 25-16, 25-19, 19-25, 25-9.

The championship was a rematch of the semifinal, pitting the somewhat weary Lumberjacks (27-6) against the well-rested Vikings. Middleton (20-0), led by the heavy-hitting senior tandem of Sarah Buhler and Donnae Carrell, who had 10 kills apiece, swept in three games, 25-19, 25-19, 25-18.

St. Maries coach Jamie Sloper said Middleton just brought too much juice.

“Maybe we were a little bit tired, but I thought we still played pretty well,” said Sloper.

St. Maries, behind senior outside hitter Jenna Robinson’s 18 kills, was much more game in the semis, losing to the Vikes in five, 25-23, 25-27, 25-21, 23-25, 15-9. Buhler and Carrell had 25 kills apiece in that match.

Robinson, who along with senior teammates Samantha Haines, Kelsi Lee and Erin Sather suited up for St. Maries for the last time, also wore her trademark smile after the championship match.

“We wanted to take first, sure, but losing to a team like Middleton isn’t that bad,” Robinson said. “It would be different if we lost to a team with a bad record – but they’re undefeated.

“To take second to a team like that, I’ll take any day.”

Timberlake (21-13), which stayed up late Friday to survive a thrilling five-gamer over Bear Lake that didn’t end until after 11, first knocked off Sugar-Salem (20-18) in five, 25-17, 18-25, 25-18, 17-25, 15-10 to earn another shot at Shelley, which defeated the Tigers in the opening round.

Timberlake was down early to the Russets – way down – before bouncing back to a five-game win, 25-27, 9-25, 26-24, 25-19, 15-12.