Bulldogs notch solid finish in Spokane

SPOKANE — Avenging an earlier season loss to Colville, and going undefeated in pool play, Sandpoint notched a 13th place finish from more than 50 teams on Saturday at the Crossover Classic in Spokane.

Outside hitter Sam Buratto led the Bulldogs with 50 kills, 40 digs and 10 blocks in six matches. Setter Ariel Moe posted 66 assists, 20 kills and seven aces, and Blake Plaster tallied 70 digs from her libero position.

“Everybody got in and contributed, and we did improve,” said Sandpoint head coach Karen Alsager, excited to even the season series with Colville. “We were really excited to get past them.”

Sandpoint rolled through pool play, downing Kuna 25-19, 25-15, 25-13, Kings, a good team out of Seattle, 25-22, 20-25 and 15-8, North Central 25-21, 25-23 and Colville 23-25, 25-22 and 15-11.

Advancing to the Platinum Bracket with the top 16 teams from pool play, Sandpoint drew a tough Mt. Spokane team, which advanced to the championship game, falling 25-22, 25-20. Moe went on a rare 11 point service run to keep the match close.

The Bulldogs fell 25-18, 25-14 to West Valley in the final match, as Alsager said her team didn’t recover well from the Mt. Spokane loss.

The Bulldogs (11-6) will get another look at a Spokane school today, when they host Central Valley today at Les Rogers Court. Both the freshman and JV games begin at 4:30 p.m., with the varsity slated to begin at 6:15 p.m.