Priest River 3, Timberlake 0 

PRIEST RIVER — Tears turned to cheers at Priest River Lamanna High on Thursday night as the Spartans celebrated senior night with a sweep (25-17, 25-20, 25-18) of nonleague opponent Timberlake. 

Priest River’s stars of the night came on the defensive end with seniors Callie Stanger and Raygn Turner leading the way in digs. Spartans head coach Katlyn Ward said her seniors did a fantastic job overcoming the emotion of playing in their last home game and uplifting the team. 

“Overcoming the emotions of senior night and turning it into excitement, like a hustling emotion, is really hard,” Ward said. “This was probably [one of] my better senior classes that could flip it, they did great.” 

Ward specially shouted out Stanger, who had 15 digs against the Tigers that brought her up to 173 digs on the season. Stanger’s total is the second most of any 3A player in the state of Idaho. 

Priest River needed every bit of Stanger and Turner’s defense, as Timberlake is a relentless opponent, always creating long rallies. Ward said games like those are why her team constantly practices hustle drills. 

“We do something called flip and slide when we play JV, so you get five points up, and if you make an error on the fourth point, you go back down five points,” Ward said. “We focus on those long rallies and trying to push points when you’re stuck in those situations. Relentless, relentless, relentless motion really helps with those because they are a scrap.” 

Turner tied with freshman Ava Griesemer for a team-leading six kills. Griesemer also led the Spartans with three blocks. 

The Spartans excelled at the serving line thanks to two juniors. Loralei Cooper totaled a team-high eight aces while McKinley Burgess-Duquette, who celebrated her birthday before the second set, added six aces.  

Another senior, Haylee Jepson-Church, led the Spartans with 19 assists. Ward said she thought all her seniors, Stanger, Turner, Jepson-Church and Rylee Dixon, played perfectly on their night. 

Ward thanked her coaches and the seniors’ parents who came in to decorate the PRL gym before the game. 

“They’ve been fantastic this year,” Ward said of her assistant coaches Angie Goins and Lindsay Troudt. “We have so many people to thank, but really my coaches, they did a great job.” 

Priest River is far from done with their season after improving to 10-3 with the win. The Spartans will travel to Wallace for their next game on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. before closing out their regular season with two league games against Grangeville and Orofino. 

Clark Fork 3, Coeur du Christ 0 

COEUR d’ALENE — Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. 

The Clark Fork Wampus Cats swept a North Star League opponent on Thursday night to extend their undefeated streak to 13-0. 

This time the Coeur du Christ Saints were their victim, for the second time in two weeks, as Clark Fork won in three sets (25-22, 28-26, 25-23) behind a breakout day from Kourtney Rogier. The freshman stuffed the stat sheet in nearly every category, totaling eight digs, six kills, three aces and two blocks. 

“Kourt really played a complete game and stayed locked in on what she could do to serve the team,” Clark Fork head coach Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey said. 

The Wampus Cats’ head coach said the team’s commitment to a “next point mentality” propelled them to their fifth sweep in a row. That showed through sophomore setter Kiylah Anderson’s night.  

While Anderson still provided 28 assists, she had a quieter night attacking and at the service line. Kiebert-Carey said the Wampus Cats’ setter didn’t let that deter her, though. 

“She worked hard to get her hands on everything and proved she is able to adjust her game plan on the fly,” Kiebert-Carey said. “Our team this year is committed to elevating their mental and emotional game, and last night that paid off huge.”   

On offense, freshman Grace Thompson and sophomore Vanessa Rogier contributed 10 kills each. Kiebert-Carey said they both have led the way in attack efficiency, a focus for the team. 

Both teams’ liberos had impressive nights with Clark Fork’s Elyssa Raynor going a perfect 8-for-8 on digs while Coeur du Christ’s Espi Klocko was excellent in shutting down Anderson, Kiebert-Carey said. 

Clark Fork will look to defend their undefeated record on Oct. 6 as they return home for their senior night to celebrate their lone senior, Nora-Jean Hoy, against Kootenai. That game will start at 7 p.m. 

    Priest River senior Haylee Jepson-Church goes to serve the ball against Timberlake during senior night on Thursday night.
  

    The Priest River Lamanna High student section was loud and active on Thursday night; here they are playing a game of human limbo during a timeout.
  

    Priest River fans hold up a headshot of senior Callie Stanger to celebrate her during senior night against Timberlake on Thursday.