Sandpoint volleyball shows improvement in loss to Post Falls

DYLAN GREENE | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 4 months AGO

Senior Lauren Breuner gets a dig during Thursday's match against Post Falls at Les Rogers Court.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)

Audrey Sheffler sets the ball for a teammate.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)

Hailey Roeder rises up to try and block a Post Falls hit on Thursday.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)

Haley McAuliffe gets a dig on Thursday.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)

Hailey Roeder elevates for a kill on Thursday.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)

Lauren Breuner rises to attempt a kill on Thursday.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)

Livia Owens tips the ball over the net on Thursday.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)

Tori Pelkey celebrates with her teammates following a point for the Bulldogs.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)

SANDPOINT — For the first time all season, head coach Karen Alsager had her full varsity team at her disposal on Thursday.

Sandpoint didn't get the win, but Alsager saw noticeable improvement from her squad.

"Tonight I felt like we took a step forward," she said. "It was the first time I felt like we were playing volleyball. I don't think the score reflected that, but you could just feel it. You could feel it within our group that the good things we were doing were the good things that we've been training to do."

The Bulldogs suffered a three set Inland Empire League defeat to Post Falls, 25-10, 25-20, 25-15.

Alsager saw flashes of great volleyball from her team throughout the match, but the Trojans' power was difficult to overcome.

Sandpoint put together an electric second set that brought the crowd inside Les Rogers Court to their feet, but back-to-back service errors came back to bite the Bulldogs late.

Alsager said her team still needs to work on their defense and being more discipline on the service line.

Emma Brown tallied 19 digs and Lauren Breuner finished with 11. Audrey Sheffler had 17 kill assists, Amaya Russell served three aces, Tori Pelkey recorded a team-high four kills and a block, and Vivian Platte added two kills and a block.

"I thought Vivian had a great night," Alsager said.

Russell was extremely effective with her serves, Alsager said.

"Amaya served so well tonight," she said. "She's just got so much power that most of the time she's just trying to pull her power away to not make errors."

The Bulldogs (1-7, 0-3 IEL) will look to end a four-game losing streak when they host Lake City at 7 p.m. Tuesday.