6A DISTRICT 1 VOLLEYBALL: Post Falls upsets Coeur d'Alene, forces deciding match
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 2 months AGO
MARK NELKE/Press Post Falls players celebrate after the Trojans defeated Lake City on Wednesday night at The Arena at Post Falls to even their best-of-3 series for the 6A District 1 volleyball title at one match apiece.
MARK NELKE/Press Post Falls senior Tiffany Foxx (5) hits past Coeur d'Alene junior Jovie Le in the second match of a best-of-3 series for the 6A District 1 volleyball title Wednesday night at Post Falls High.
By MARK NELKE
Sports editor
POST FALLS — The smash from the right side thudded off the hands of Post Falls Trojans senior Tiffany Foxx and fell softly to the floor on the Coeur d’Alene Vikings side.
And with that, the 6A District 1 volleyball championship is still up for grabs.
“It took a lot of energy; I’m exhausted right now,” said Foxx after the match-ending block that gave the second-seeded Trojans a 25-17, 11-25, 25-16, 25-22 victory over the top-seeded Vikings to square their best-of-3 series for the district title at one match apiece. “But we knew we could beat them, because they lost to a team (Lake City) that we beat, so we just had to make sure we brought the power and the energy.”
Post Falls (21-8) will travel to Coeur d’Alene (22-4) on Saturday for a winner-take-all match at noon at Viking Court. The winner advances to state next week at Capital High in Boise; the loser is done for the season.
Junior Teresa Smith had nine kills, 14 digs and three aces for Post Falls, which beat Coeur d’Alene for the first time since 2023, but had lost the last seven matchups with the Vikings. Sophomore Zuri Blood had nine kills and two blocks, junior Lucy Carr 24 assists and five aces, sophomore Claire Ziegler 17 assists, Foxx three blocks, senior Mia Carr 15 digs, juniors Malia Uemoto and Rylie Gump two blocks each.
“I’m beginning to cry when I’m talking about this,” Post Falls coach Matt Barkley said. “They showed a lot of grit tonight. This group of seniors, it’s been a while since they’ve beaten Coeur d’Alene, and to get that win, it’s huge.
“Everybody contributed, from our digging,” he added. “Mia was all over the place; she was digging everything they were hitting at us. But the big thing was our block — Tiffany Foxx and Rylie Gump and Reese DeGraw, our whole front row. The last match, our block wasn’t there. Today, they stepped up and brought the block.”
Momentum swung back and forth because ... volleyball.
Post Falls started strong and took the first set, then Coeur d’Alene, the defending district champs, thumped the Trojans in the second set.
But the Trojans responded.
“We had kind of a firm talk with them (after the second set); this is not the way we play volleyball,” Barkley said. “My assistant coach Casey (Cornett) kind of laid it out at them, and they responded.”
For Coeur d’Alene, senior Gianna Callari had 17 kills, senior Kaylee Paulson 10 kills and 14 digs, junior Hannah Shafer 18 assists, junior Bridget Maiani 14 digs and five aces, sophomore Eva Callari 11 assists, sophomore Maren Larson and junior Jovie Lee four blocks each.
The Vikings had beaten the Trojans in each of their first three meetings this season, though the second matchup went five sets at Cd’A. The Vikings swept Post Falls in the first match of the best-of-3 series last Saturday.
“We came in with a solid game plan, but our ball control wasn’t consistent enough for us to run an effective offense,” Coeur d’Alene coach Carly Curtis said. “Post Falls did a great job serving tough, and we fell short in some critical moments.”
MARK NELKE/Press Post Falls senior Tiffany Foxx (5) hits past Coeur d'Alene junior Jovie Le in the second match of a best-of-3 series for the 6A District 1 volleyball title Wednesday night at Post Falls High.