PREP VOLLEYBALL: Post Falls wins opener of 6A District 1 title series; Lakeland captures 5A IEL title
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 1 hour, 34 minutes AGO
POST FALLS — The Coeur d'Alene Vikings continued their strong postseason run in the first set Thursday night, before the top-seeded Post Falls Trojans took command.
Senior Teresa Smith had eight kills, 14 digs and two aces as Post Falls battled back to beat third-seeded Coeur d'Alene 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-15 in the first match of a best-of-3 series for the 6A District 1 title at The Arena.
"District tournament matches always come with elevated intensity, and Coeur d'Alene came out hungry and picked up everything early on," Post Falls coach Casey Cornett said. "We started a bit chaotic in that opening set, but I was really proud of how the team composed themselves between sets. Once we made our adjustments in set two, we got back to our system, locked down our net defense, and played to the standard we’ve set all season."
The second match is Saturday at noon at Coeur d'Alene. The third match, if necessary, would be Tuesday at Post Falls.
Peyton Barclift had 14 kills and two aces for Post Falls (21-3). Lucy Smith had 19 assists and five aces, Lucy Carr 13 assists and 12 digs, Reese DeGraw eight blocks, Jade Laos 12 digs, Rylie Gump, Annabelle Tucker and Melia Uemoto three blocks each.
"Credit to Coeur d'Alene for pushing us, but our resilience and defensive discipline down the stretch were the difference," Cornett said.
Senior Hannah Shafer had 19 digs, 18 assists and an ace for Coeur d'Alene (23-8), which won at second-seeded Lake City in the first round on Tuesday. Freshman outside hitter Avery Wilson had nine kills, and earned kudos from coach Carly Curtis for her defense and blocking.
Maren Larson had seven kills, many of them in the first set. Marly Sutich had four blocks, Eva Callari nine kills and 16 digs, Embree McKeown 22 digs, Emily Hackett 14 assists and an ace, Josie Le four blocks and two aces.
"We came out with lots of energy and had a lot of success with our middles in the first set," Curtis said. "And then we got away offensively from moving it around. Defensively we need to step it up and improve our ball control."
Lakeland d.
Moscow
MOSCOW — Senior Jolie Warren and sophomore Jaeli Hoffman had 10 kills each as the visiting Hawks won their first league title since 2020, beating the Bears 25-14, 25-8, 25-12 to win the 5A Inland Empire League title at Bear Den.
Emma Beaty added 19 digs and six aces for Lakeland (14-13, 5-1 5A IEL). Kindell Day had 18 assists, Hoffman three blocks.
Lakeland, the top seed to the 5A Region 1 tournament, will play host to fourth seed Moscow (2-14, 0-6) in the first round Saturday at 3 p.m.
In Saturday's other first-round match, third seed Sandpoint (8-10) travels to second seed Lewiston (13-11, 4-2), also at 3 p.m.