- Thursday, Oct. 5

Genesis Prep 3, Clark Fork 1

CLARK FORK — The Wampus Cats played hard, but ended up falling Thursday to Genesis Prep, 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 12-25, 19-25) at Clark Fork High School.

The gymnasium was packed with fans cheering on Clark Fork; Wampy even made an appearance and hyped up the crowd in what was truly a back-and-forth four-set match against the Jaguars.

Clark Fork prevailed to win the first set by a two-point margin, and in the second set things were looking good as the Wampus Cats got out to a dominant 17-6 lead. However Genesis Prep went on a huge rally, and scored 19 of the next 24 points to take the second set. In the third and fourth sets, Clark Fork once again got out to early leads, but couldn’t hold on, allowing the Jaguars to come back and capture the 3-1 victory.

Leading the way Thursday was Amari Printz-Hay who had six stuff blocks, which is a block that is performed so efficiently the opposing hitter is unable to fully hit the ball, causing it to land on the opposing team’s side.

“Those blocks were absolutely monster,” head coach Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey said. “It’s moments like that when the sport really shines.”

Lilly Reuter, Aurora Lane, Eloise Shelton and Piper Scarlett played a big part in running the offense. Reuter had 23 assists and a perfect digging night. Lane had a team-high nine kills while Shelton, Scarlett followed close behind with eight each. Amie Matteson also played a key role Thursday.

“Amie is coming into her own as a player, a player who isn’t afraid to step up and pass a ball that’s going to translate into aggressive offense,” Kiebert-Carey said. “Her confidence has been a lift for our whole back row.”

Kiebert-Carey also reminisced on how much fun it was to be able to coach Thursday’s match.

“I’ve talked about our team needing to figure out the psychological part of our game, and I think we improved that against Genesis Prep,” Kiebert-Carey said. “They have strong servers who serve spots well, and we missed some key serves. That ended up being the difference.”

Clark Fork (7-8) will look for revenge against the Jaguars on the road Tuesday.