U16 club claims tourney win

YAKIMA, Wash. - Winning yet another prestigious tournament and cementing their status as one of the top teams in the Northwest, the Sandpoint Volleyball Club U16 girls bested 78 other teams at the Pacific Northwest Jamboree in Yakima last weekend.

Past tournament wins earned them the No. 2 seed, and they set about justifying their seed against much taller teams from Oregon, the Evergreen Region and the Puget Sound region. The beat No. 1 seed Portland Volleyball Club 29-27 and 25-15, despite being down by scores of 10-4 and 23-20 before pulling out the first game.

“This is a very solid win at a pretty prestigious tournament,” said coach Jack Dyck, no stranger to big time tournaments, noting it was nice to earn the respect of a high seed. “When it got tough, we could have rolled over, but our girls don't lose well. They like to win and they bucked up.”

Dyck said the play of his middles was the key. Allison Halliday and Maddy Emmer scored from the middle, which opened up the outside hitting lanes for Piper Wahlin and Koko James. He also lauded the play of Christina Johnson, Alissa Millard and Spencer Schultz along the back line.

Dyck said the team's drive was the biggest equalizer. Unlike when they won the tournament as a U14 team, the height disparity is much greater at the U16 level and Sandpoint was one of the shorter teams at the tournament.