This week Plains fell to rival Thompson Falls, 3-0, on Tuesday and again to Troy, 3-1 on Saturday.

At Thompson Falls, the Trotters faithful traveled to cheer on their own, who pushed the Lady Hawks in all three sets, 25-20, 25-21, 25-15 to a District 7-B win on Tuesday.

“We had our loud crowd. We had so many people there, and they all dressed in black to support the team. It was awesome,” Plains head coach Kim Earhart said.

“We were in it all three games and we had fun,” he added. “My hatt’s off to them, they did a good job. They were able to finish.”

Junior setter Nicki Kunzer led the Trotters with four kills, five assists and two aces.

For the Lady Hawks, Hope Reid floored 12 kills and three blocks, Allison Vaught posted 21 assists and Emily Wadsworth snatched up 15 digs.

On Saturday, the Trojans edged the Trotters in four sets, 25-21, 25-17, 23-25, 25-18. Individual statistics for the match were not reported. The loss dropped The Trotters to 1-7 conf., 4-8 ovr.

Next week Plains will host Mission on Thursday at 4, and Eureka on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the first of three straight matches.

“We need to get a win. It’s one thing to play and struggle, it’s another to lose game after game while you’re still struggling,” Earhart said. “They’re important games leading up to districts.”

Earhart was confident that playing at home, in conjunction with a line-up change, using more JV players, will breathe new life into his team as they continue to battle.

“I think it’s good because again you’re more accustomed to playing in your own gym. You’ve got your own crowd, and that’s huge,” Earhart said.

Earhart also stressed the importance of the upcoming matches as they factor into the playoff picture as the top teams from each B division will make up the Divisional tournament bracket.

“We’ve gotta show up though. We’ve gotta play.” Earhart said. “That is one of the things I can say this team has done. I’ve seen some teams fold as soon as they start getting behind or they get down. I haven’t seen that. I’ve seen our girls step up quite a bit, and they want to play.”