COEUR d'ALENE - On the brink of accomplishing their goal of a state 3A volleyball championship, the St. Maries Lumberjacks found themselves in unfamiliar territory at the conclusion of the state tournament on Saturday - without a trophy.

St. Maries fell to Snake River 23-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-17 in a semifinal match and concluded the season with a 25-21, 25-14, 25-18 loss to Bear Lake in the third-place match at Lake City High. The Lumberjacks finished fifth.

"We knew they'd be a tough team," said St. Maries coach Missy Asbury of Bear Lake. "We knew we'd have to play our best game to compete and we didn't play well."

Snake River went on to beat Fruitland for its second straight state title.

It was the first time since going 1-2 in 2006 that the Lumberjacks have finished out of the championship match. St. Maries won its 12th state title in 2009.

"They had goals at the start of the day today to play for a state title," Asbury said. "After losing in the morning, we weren't able to fulfill those goals and we didn't prepare enough for the challenge."

Jessica Passey had 20 kills and five blocks for Bear Lake, coached by Laura Cammack.

Cammack led Bear Lake to five straight 3A championships between 1997 and 2001, often against St. Maries at some point in those tournaments.

"We played them for so many years, it was almost fitting we'd see them again this year," Cammack said. "We'd hope to play them in the state title match though. They got us last year, so we really wanted to come out and get them this time."

St. Maries will move down to the 2A classification starting next fall.

"It has been a lot of fun facing them," Cammack said. "I've got so much respect for their program. Even up two games, I've been around long enough to know that they're going to keep playing tough. St. Maries just doesn't die."

St. Maries (25-10) will lose four seniors to graduation, including all-Intermountain League selections Marlee Masterson, Jaylee Sines and Abbey Anderson.

"We've had a few ups and downs this year," Masterson said. "But this is the strongest team I've been a part of in my 11 years of playing volleyball. Bear Lake was a great team and we just had an off tournament."

Masterson had 10 kills and four digs, Sines 21 assists, Mariah Gladden seven kills and two blocks, Clarissa Stephenson five digs, Kristina Halvorsen four digs and Lakin Anxo four digs for St. Maries.

Earlier, Jocelyn Harper had 16 kills for Snake River of Blackfoot as they took control of the match from the second game to win the semifinal match.

Brylie Bair had 13 kills and Kenzie Taylor 33 assists for the Panthers, who beat St. Maries in last year's championship match in four games.

"They had the home-court advantage this year and we had to respect everything they did," Snake River coach Shelli Van Orden said. "We knew we had to play a solid match to beat them and we found a way to do that."

Masterson had 15 kills, Sines 22 assists, Gladden eight kills, Anxo and Abbey Anderson seven digs for St. Maries against Snake River.

"This group of girls has been like a family to me," Sines said. "They've been more that just my teammates, they've also been like my sisters."