COEUR d'ALENE - The top-seeded Lake City volleyball team defended its home court and won the 5A Region 1 title with a 23-25, 25-19, 27-25, 25-18 win over second seed Post Falls on Saturday.

With the win, the Timberwolves (19-5) clinched a berth in the state 5A tournament next week at Coeur d'Alene High School.

"It feels excellent," Lake City coach Bret Taylor said after the Timberwolves won their first regional title since 2005. "The girls faced some adversity today but they got through it."

Following the loss to Lake City, Post Falls (30-7) bounced back and clinched a state berth of its own by defeating third seed Lewiston 25-17, 25-20, 25-20 in the second-place match.

"After the Lake City match, I told the girls we had to get over a mental hump," Trojans coach Willow Hanna said. "We just had to get some mental toughness and go back out there and take that second spot to state."

Earlier, Lewiston reached the second-place match by defeating fourth seed Coeur d'Alene 25-17, 10-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-13 in a loser-out match.

Lake City opens state against Vallivue at 10 a.m. Friday. Post Falls plays Eagle at 3 p.m.

In the championship match, the Trojans came out firing in the first set, jumping out to an 8-1 lead behind the serve of junior Brooke Litalien.

Lake City battled back to even the set at 14, but Post Falls, which never trailed in the opening set, went on to win 25-23 after Jibby’s soft touch fell in for a kill.

“We’ve been ready for this match all week ... or for two months,” Hanna said. “The girls were just ready to play and we just got out there and worked hard.”

Junior setter/outside hitter Kylie Curtis had six kills and one ace, and Kasey Widmyer served up five straight points in the second set as Lake City battled back to win 25-19.

“I really didn’t have to make much of an adjustment,” Taylor said about his team after dropping the first set. “The kids were right there in that first game and they just knew that they had to clean some things up.”

In the pivotal third set, Jennifer Schuman put the Timberwolves out in front, serving up nine consecutive points to give Lake City a 10-3 lead.

“It’s just a bunch of confidence,” Schuman said about her serving. “I just go back there knowing the team has my back no matter what. So going out there and being able to bring that confidence to the serve and that high energy is big.”

The Trojans came back and evened the set at 14, and the two teams battled back and forth before two straight Schuman kills clinched the set for Lake City.

But Schuman wasn’t done.

The senior served up the first 12 points of the fourth set and Curtis added eight kills and one ace to clinch the match for the Timberwolves.

“For me, going to state is a great honor,” Schuman said while holding the regional trophy. “And as a team, we’ve been pushing for this from the beginning. This takes all of those practices, the conditioning and getting our butts kicked in the gym ... it’s all worth it now.”

Schuman finished the match with 12 kills and seven aces. Curtis had 26 kills, 12 assists and six aces.

“Kylie and Jen don’t have a problem taking a risk,” Taylor said. “And when you take risks, you’re only going to get better because you are going to know how to handle adversity and those two are willing to put it on the line.”

Camille Rounds led the Timberwolves with 24 assists, something Taylor deemed very important to their success.

“She is the one feeding those two (Schuman and Curtis) the ball,” Taylor said. “And when they get their kills, there is a good reason for it — someone is putting that ball where they need it. And the combination of (Rounds) being awfully good and them being awfully good makes us awfully good.”

Ashley Jibby led the Trojans with 14 kills against the Bengals. Tori Bertsch had 18 assists, Litalien 12 digs and Allison Meehan had four aces.

“We just really executed and terminated a lot of balls,” Jibby said. “It feels amazing to be going to state. It’s my senior year so I’m super happy about it. The goal was to win state, not a regional title. So we’re going to go to state and kick butt.”

For the Vikings, this marks the third consecutive year they have failed to qualify for state.

“This team had seven seniors on it, so that right there makes you focus on wanting them to have a good experience,” Vikings coach Dee Pottenger said. “From a coach’s standpoint, you want to make sure the kids are improving athletically and as volleyball players, which this team clearly did that. This team fought and battled all season and these girls really grew character wise.”