St. Maries on golden path
It’s been 14 years since St. Maries, a former State 3A volleyball power, captured gold.
The Lumberjacks are a win away from having an opportunity to end their drought. St. Maries coach Jamie Sloper thought her team played at a level it needed to Friday to challenge for a state championship in opening-round 3A tourney play at Coeur d’Alene High School’s Elmer Jordan Court.
St. Maries posted two three-game sweeps, handling Weiser 25-16, 25-20, 25-22 and 2006 state runner-up Shelley 25-19, 25-17, 25-20. The Lumberjacks (25-5), who can take no worse than third, will test themselves when they meet defending champ Sugar-Salem (33-6) at noon.
Priest River didn’t win both of its matches, but first-year coach Katie Bodecker was more than satisfied. The Spartans fell to District III champ Fruitland 25-14, 25-20, 22-25, 25-15 before staying alive with a 20-25, 25-21, 26-24, 12-25, 15-7 victory over Kimberly.
The Spartans (11-11) go against Shelley (34-13) in a loser-out match this morning at 9. In another elimination match, Fruitland (15-1) meets Bear Lake (22-16).
In other openers, Sugar-Salem topped Kimberly 25-20, 25-26, 25-16 and Shelley got past Bear Lake 25-15, 21-25, 26-24, 25-11.
“St. Maries never trailed at any significant point against Shelley.
The Lumberjacks received solid front-row play from outside hitters Shawna Heath and Katie Felix. Heath had a team-high 15 kills and Felix had 10. Heath also had 13 digs and three blocks.
Sloper praised her team for its steady play throughout against the Russets, who were runners-up to Sugar-Salem in District VI.
“Shelley’s a great team,” Sloper said. “If we would have let up they would have come out and got us. I would say it was one of our best performances intensity-wise. They focused and kept their minds on their original goal to begin with – and that’s to go for the gold. We’re just another step closer.”
Heath accounted for the final points in the first two games on kills, and Shelley had a net serve on match point.
St. Maries had one minor lull and it came midway in the third game when they led 19-15. The Russets scored three straight points to pull within 19-18, but back-to-back aces by Bree Arrhenius sparked a strong finish.
“I thought my outside hitters did a great job,” Sloper said. “They got touches on us but they couldn’t stop us. We had more service errors than I would have liked, but very few mistakes (overall) and great passing.”
In the Lumberjacks’ opener, Heath had 13 kills and 15 digs. Felix had eight kills.
“My girls came out and dominated,” Sloper said of the opener.
“Fruitland’s tall front row was too much for Priest River to overcome.
The Spartans certainly didn’t roll over, though, as they took a game from the Grizzlies, who entered state undefeated.
Sophomore Taylor Stewart led PR with nine kills; junior Melissa Kruse had five aces; senior Alicia Schanilec had 12 digs; and senior setter Lacy Hopkins had five kills, two blocks and 24 assists.
“I thought we were mentally focused and we went out there and competed,” Bodecker said. “If you can be happy with a loss, I was happy with this loss.”
In the loser-out match, PR took two of the first three games before Kimberly forced a final fifth game. The Spartans opened a comfortable cushion in the final game and kept adding to it.
Hopkins had a power dink to extend the Spartans’ lead to 13-5. She followed with a kill on match point.
Stewart and Schanilec each had nine kills and Amber Trost chipped in 15 digs.
“What a rollercoaster of emotions,” Bodecker said. “We had some ups and downs, but when it came down to it we stepped it up and we made plays. We had to fight for every single point.”
The Spartans went 0-2 at state last year. So their goal Friday was to make it to the second day.
“They’re very intent on their goals and they were very focused,” Bodecker said.