NIVBC U18 girls finish fourth at Emerald City Classic

SEATTLE — North Idaho Volleyball Club U18 team placed fourth in the Emerald City Classic (U18 Club Division) 3-day tournament in Seattle over the Memorial Weekend.

This tournament was held on the campus of University of Washington. The team, coached by Cindy Derr, was composed of juniors from Clark Fork, Sandpoint and Lakeland high schools.

The regular season players from the team NIVBC U18 were Jenn Gauthier, Michelle Haase, Ketti Wehrle, and Traci Kutzleb. They also added Kelsey James, Caitlyn Free, and Amy Bradetich from the NIVBC U18 Black team and Mindy Meyer and Cassie Duncan from the Coeur d'Alene area U18 Academy team.

On Saturday and Sunday, they won pool play finishing 3-0 during each of those days. On Monday, the girls went 2-1 to finish second in their pool.

"We then were seeded into the Championship round of the U18 Club tournament and finished fourth overall," said Derr.

There were 179 teams competing totally for the tournament with 31 teams in the U18 Club Division and 24 teams in the U18 Open Division.

Kelsey James was named to the U18 Club Division All Tournament team as Most Valuable Player.