STATE HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENTS: Coeur du Christ falls in state debut

1A  

COEUR d’ALENE — The start wasn’t optimal. 

But in their first state volleyball tournament match in program history, the eighth-seeded Coeur du Christ Saints had their moments before falling 25-11, 25-18, 25-15 to the top-seeded Horseshoe Bend Mustangs in a class 1A first-round match Thursday afternoon at Coeur d’Alene High’s Viking Court. 

Coeur du Christ fell behind 9-0 in the first set before a double-block by senior Kate Clemens and junior Mia Longo gave the Saints their first point in state tournament history. 

“Our nerves were massive,” fourth-year Coeur du Christ coach Natalie Kiefer said. “First state game, we had some deer-in-the-headlights looks a few times.” 

Coeur du Christ (11-5) will play No. 5 seed Mackay (19-8) today at 9 a.m. in a loser-out match. Mackay lost to No. 4 Rockland 25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 20-25, 15-7 on Thursday. 

Horseshoe Bend (24-5) will face Rockland (25-9) today at 1:30 p.m. in the second round. 

In the second set, Coeur du Christ fell behind 8-2, then rallied to within 10-9 before Horseshoe Bend pulled away. 

"They were a very dynamic team, and were changing things up,” Saints senior outside hitter Maddie Junkin said, “and I think we got on our toes a little bit for those hard-driven balls. And then they’d tip on us.” 

“They’d be swinging down the line, so we’d adjust that way, then they’d swing somewhere else, so we would adjust the other way,” Kiefer added. “And then they’d tip. They just did a lot of different stuff that kept us on our heels, when we needed to be on our toes.  

“We’ve played teams that could swing away, and swing well. And we’ve played teams that only know how to tip, and play a slower pace. And we haven’t played a team that really does both.” 

Most impressive for Horseshoe Bend, which had just seven players (none of them seniors) was Brooklyn Hess, generously listed at 5-foot-4 but perhaps closer to 5-1, according to her coach. Swinging from the outside, she hit angle ... and line ... and tipped. 

And was nearly a foot shorter than three of the Mustangs’ other hitters. 

“It’s more difficult than it would seem as a blocker,” Kiefer said, “to go back and forth between one outside hitter that reaches 7 feet easily, and she’s jumping, and then you have this shorter girl that has this super, much slower arm swing and major hang time, and the blockers are like, ‘Whoa, how do I adjust?’” 

Still ... 

"There was never a moment when I was thinking, ‘we can’t come back from this,’” Coeur du Christ senior setter Kate Clemens said. 

Coeru du Christ started its program in 2022. In 2024, the Saints became a full member of the Idaho High School Activities Association, and in their first year eligible for state, lost in a state play-in match. 

Junkin and Clemens were freshmen on the 2022 team. 

“It feels a lot like a full-circle moment, especially for Maddie and I, being in the Coeur du Christ program from its first year, as freshmen, and then now, finishing it out as seniors, finally getting to go to state,” Clemens said. “I’m so proud of how far our team has come. We’ve really put in a lot of work, and it shows.” 

“Watching the improvement over the years has been absolutely wonderful,” said Junkin, who is considering options to play in college. “It’s been the girls working together to get better, and you can see the jump every single year.” 

—Mark Nelke

3A

Kellogg d. 

Firth 

IDAHO FALLS — It was nearly 10:30 p.m., and Kellogg head coach Hollie Yrjana wasn’t sure her heart was still functioning — but she couldn’t stop smiling. Her second-seeded Wildcats had just survived their first five-set match of the season, outlasting seventh-seeded Firth 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 26-24, 15-12 in the opening round of the state 3A tournament at the Mountain America Center. 

After rallying to force a fifth set, Kellogg jumped out to an 11-3 lead, then held off a furious Firth comeback to seal the win. 

Firth (20-8) came out swinging, exploiting gaps in the Wildcat defense and keeping Kellogg off balance early. The Wildcats responded in the second set with a hitting barrage of their own. Midway through the match, Yrjana urged her undersized squad, none taller than 5-foot-8, to pick up the pace and stop trying to match the Cougars hit for hit. 

“When we changed our tempo, that was the turning point for us,” Yrjana said. “We can’t just rely on our hitting when we play these taller girls.” 

Kellogg got key contributions from its supporting cast, but when the match tightened, captains Paige Yrjana and Dani Henrikson stepped up. 

“Paige was a beast on defense for us tonight,” Yrjana said. “Dani was phenomenal all night too.” 

No stats were available. 

Kellogg (25-1), one victory away from securing its first trophy from state in program history, faces sixth-seeded Melba (20-13) today at 2:30 p.m. PDT. Melba beat third-seeded Malad 11-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-12 in their opener. 

—Josh McDonald 

2A

Valley d. 

Wallace 

POST FALLS — A bad bounce later, and the sixth-seeded Miners had the momentum and match snatched away. 

Senior Kylee Phillips had 11 kills and 12 digs for the Miners, who beat the Vikings 25-18 in the first set before falling 25-16, 25-15, 25-8 to the third-seeded Vikings of Hazelton in an opening round match in the state 2A tournament at Post Falls High. 

Senior setter Aubrey Birdsell had 16 assists for Wallace. She missed most of the second set after being hit by the ball on a Valley return. 

“One of our setters took a really hard hit in the head and I think mentally, it threw us off for a while,” Wallace coach Katie Bauer said. “We kind of had a hard time refocusing. And our serve receive broke down a little bit. They had great serving and we couldn’t get our kills going because we couldn’t get into system.” 

Wallace (16-9) faces seventh-seeded Wilder (13-6) in a loser-out game today at 11 a.m. 

Valley (20-8) faces second-seeded Troy (29-4) in a winner’s bracket match at 3:30 p.m. 

It is the first time at state for Wallace (16-9) since finishing fourth in 1A Division 1 in Lewiston in 2023. 

“We talked to them before the match,” Bauer said. “State is a long few days and a lot can happen in the span of all the matches. You’ve really just got to take it one set at a time. We’ll regroup after this and hopefully our setter is OK.” 

Junior Megan Hull had 10 kills, junior Kayden Stutzke 12 assists, senior Anna Rehnborg 14 digs and senior Oliva Berry 13 digs for Wallace. 

“That first set, Kylee came out on fire and had five kills and was just swinging really well,” Bauer said. “Megan keeping everything in play and being careful about where she was putting the ball. And (Grace) DeLano did a lot for us, both blocking and hitting. We just moved her to the middle, and it gave us a little spark, which was nice to see.” 

Junior Hailey Malone had 13 kills, junior Sophie Crumrine 11 kills and sophomore Emily Huetting nine kills for Valley. 

“It usually takes us a set to get going,” Valley coach Katie Clark said. “Our girls made the adjustments and finished really well.” 

— Jason Elliott

6A

Coeur d’Alene d. 

Rigby 

BOISE — Senior Gianna Callari totaled 14 kills, eight digs, six blocks and two aces as the fourth-seeded Vikings beat the fifth-seeded Trojans 25-16, 29-27, 25-13 in a state 6A first-round match at Capital High. 

Seniors Kaylee Paulson and Camryn Farrar had 12 and eight kills, respectively, for Coeur d’Alene (24-4), which will play top-seeded Skyview (25-5) of Nampa in the second round today at 12:30 p.m. PDT.  

Bridget Maiani had 14 digs and three aces, Eva Callari 17 assists and two aces, Hannah Shafer 15 assists and two blocks, Maren Larson three blocks, Jovie Le two blocks for the Vikings. 

“We came out with a lot of fire and energy tonight,” Coeur d’Alene coach Carly Curtis said. “From the start, our focus was sharp — our ball control was solid, we served tough, and we really did a great job closing the block. Everyone was locked in and playing for each other, and that made all the difference.” 

Skyview, runners-up to Madison of Rexburg last year, defeated eighth seed Boise 25-12, 25-11, 16-25, 25-9 on Thursday. 

5A

Lakeland d. 

Moscow 

BOISE — The Hawks’ reward for another trip to state — a first-round matchup with a fellow 5A Inland Empire League foe. 

Third-seeded Lakeland trailed in all three sets, but finished all of them strong for a 25-21, 25-23, 25-21 victory over the sixth-seeded Bears in a state 5A first-round match at Timberline High. 

“It’s always tough to travel all the way to state just to face a familiar league opponent, but I’m proud of our girls for staying focused and taking care of business,” Lakeland coach Kelsie Badger said. “It’s never easy to sweep a team three times in one season, but they got it done tonight with grit and composure.” 

Senior Alyssa Ryckman and junior Jolie Warren had 10 kills each for Lakeland (16-12). Raygen Dutton added eight kills and two blocks, Jaeli Hoffman 22 assists, Kindall Day 14 assists, Anabel Bowie three blocks. 

Senior libero Chloe Neff missed the match due to illness, and sophomore Emma Beaty stepped up with 13 digs and six aces for the Hawks. 

“Emma had a great game, and it was awesome to see her teammates rally around her,” Badger said. “This group continues to show heart, adaptability, and belief in each other when it matters most.” 

Lakeland will play second-seeded Shelley (24-9) today at 2:30 p.m. PDT in the second round. 

4A 

Bear Lake d. 

Timberlake 

IDAHO FALLS — The eighth-seeded Tigers fell to the top-seeded and defending state champion Bears 25-10, 25-22, 25-14 in a state 4A first-round match at the Mountain America Center. 

Freshman Everlee Powell had seven kills and five blocks for Timberlake (12-11). Addie Archer added five kills, nine digs and an ace, Amarijana Olivieri four kills, 12 digs and an ace, Willow Mattson six assists and seven digs, Jordyn Parke five assists and eight digs for the Tigers. 

“It took us a little while to shake off the nerves, but we really came alive in the second set,” Timberlake coach Lisa Gardom said. “We battled point for point with the returning state champions but came up just short of winning that set. We needed to make adjustments and when we didn’t, it cost us points and momentum. Even though we lost, there was a lot of good that we saw today and we’ll try and build on that for tomorrow’s game.” 

Timberlake will play fourth-seeded Preston (22-10) today at 8 a.m. PDT in a loser-out match. Preston lost to fifth seed Fruitland 25-15, 25-18, 25-14. 

Bear Lake (34-3) will play Fruitland (16-7) in the second round. 

    MARK NELKE/Press Coeur du Christ freshman Therese Junkin (17) swings against the Horseshoe Bend block of junior Kimber Jones (21) and sophomore Aubrey Penney (10) in the first round of the state 1A volleyball tournament Thursday at Coeur d'Alene High's Viking Court.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Wallace senior outside hitter Kylee Phillips attempts to spike the ball past Valley defender Hayli Gordon during an opening round match in the state 2A volleyball tournament at Post Falls High on Thursday.
  

    JASON ELLIOTT/Press Wallace junior outside hitter Megan Hull attempts to hit past Valley defenders Kinsey Frudden (3) and Daisy Flores (7) during an opening round match in the state 2A volleyball tournament at Post Falls High.