Timberlake 3, Bonners Ferry 0 

BONNERS FERRY — After besting the Timberlake Tigers on their annual Volley for a Cure night and on Sept. 17, the Bonners Ferry Badgers were one game away from sealing the 4A Intermountain League title. 

All it would take was beating the Tigers on the Badgers' home court, again. Unfortunately for Bonners Ferry, Timberlake didn’t go easy as they rallied to a three-set (21-25, 23-25, 13-25) win over the Badgers on Monday to even up the series at one game apiece. 

It was a quieter night for the Badgers in the stat sheet with sophomore Hana Hanson and senior Eva Willis both posting a team-high five kills. Bonners Ferry totaled 23 kills, but had 22 errors, which killed their momentum. 

From the serving line, junior Samantha Cummings and senior Aspen Graham tied for a team-leading two aces each. Bonners Ferry also got two blocks from sophomore Jaycee Bateman and one each from junior Kerry Greenhalgh and Willis. 

Bateman led Bonners Ferry with 19 assists and six digs, while Cummings added five and Hanson contributed four digs.  

With the loss, the Intermountain League championship now turns into a best-of-3 series, with the second match being played Wednesday at 6 p.m. The game will not finish before the Herald’s print deadline, but a full recap will be added to the online version of this article. 

If Bonners Ferry won the Wednesday night matchup, then a district championship deciding game will be played Thursday at 6 p.m. at Bonners Ferry High. If they lost, then Timberlake will advance to a state play-in match. 

Last week, Bonners Ferry played two other non-league games.  

Bonners Ferry 3, Troy 0 

BONNERS FERRY — The Badgers swept Troy (MT) in three sets (25-17, 25-22, 25-22) on Oct. 8 thanks to an impressive day from senior Eva Willis. 

Bonners Ferry’s senior totaled 11 kills and only one error as she propelled her team to victory. Sophomore Hana Hanson added three aces, while fellow sophomore Josie Rennie totaled a team-high 10 digs on the night.  

Jaycee Bateman racked up 32 assists, seven digs, one kill and one block in the Badgers' victory over the Trojans. Junior Samantha Cummings also had a very solid night, totaling eight kills and eight digs for Bonners Ferry. The win improved the Badgers to 7-10 in the season. 

Stillwater Christian 3, Bonners Ferry 1 

KALISPELL — Bonners Ferry narrowly fell in a four-set battle (20-25, 27-25, 17-25, 20-25) to Stillwater Christian (MT) on Oct. 10. 

Despite the loss, sophomore Hana Hanson had a stellar day, racking up 13 kills and nine digs. Junior Samantha Cummings added eight kills and a team-high 17 digs in a rousing defensive performance. Sophomore Josie Rennie added 15 digs to the impressive night, with the duo doing all they could to keep the Badgers in the game. 

Jaycee Bateman added another 33 assists to her season total while also bringing eight digs and two kills to the party. The loss dropped the Badgers to 7-11 on the season.