STATE HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENTS: Lakeland finishes third in 5A
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 1 month, 3 weeks AGO
BOISE — The Lakeland Hawks brought home a trophy for the third straight year, finishing third at the state 5A volleyball tournament following a couple of losses Saturday at Timberline High.
Third-seeded Lakeland reached Saturday’s semifinals with wins on Thursday and Friday. In the semifinal, Lakeland fell 25-17, 25-14, 25-22 to top-seeded Hillcrest of Ammon.
Then, the Hawks lost 25-19, 25-22, 27-25 to No. 2 Shelley, a team Lakeland defeated in five sets Friday in the second round.
“Some tough losses today, but I’m so proud of our team for bringing home third place at state,” eighth-year Lakeland coach Kelsie Badger said. “There were moments this season when I wasn’t sure we’d even make it here, and to finish third with such a young team is something to be really proud of.”
Lakeland, which finished 17-14, took second at state last year, and was fourth in 2023. It was the fifth trophy in eight trips to state under Badger, including the program’s first state title in 2020.
Against Hillcrest, junior Jolie Warren had 15 digs and eight kills for Lakeland. Freshman Jaeli Hoffman added 11 assists and four kills, sophomore Emma Beaty 14 digs and three aces, junior Kindell Day 10 assists, junior Raygen Dutton and sophomore Anabel Bowie two blocks each.
Against Shelley, senior Alyssa Ryckman had 10 kills and 13 digs for the Hawks. Warren added 10 kills and two aces. Beaty 17 digs, Day 16 assists, Hoffman 12 assists, Bowie five blocks.
“Alyssa and Jolie had an outstanding tournament on both offense and defense,” Badger said. “Kindell and Jaeli did a great job controlling the tempo and came up with some huge swings and blocks. Anabel and Raygen were a force at the net with key blocks throughout the weekend. Emma stepped up big filling in for Chloe (Neff), who was out sick, and had a great tournament. Emma’s aggressive serve pushed us ahead in a lot of the games. And our bench was electric, keeping the energy alive and lifting up their teammates all weekend long.”