Sandpoint Volleyball Club makes Sweet 16 at Reno

RENO, Nevada — Led by some timely kills from an undersized front line and big contributions from a couple of bench players, the Sandpoint Volleyball Club U16 team went 6-3 over three days at the Far West National Qualifier in Reno last weekend.

The strong showing earned Sandpoint a tie for 9th place among 208 of the top club teams from around the West. Sandpoint advanced to the coveted final bracket of 16 teams, where they fell 26-24 and 25-20 to No. 15 seed City Beach Green from the Bay Area.

The Reno tournament features more than 70 courts of action, similar to the environment SVBC will face when they travel to the Junior Olympics in Columbus, Ohio later this summer. The strong showing gives Sandpoint confidence it can make some noise in Ohio.

“We got to play at a high level for a long period of time,” said coach Jack Dyck of the Reno action. “There are not going to be any easy wins in the Junior Olympics.”

Outside hitters Hannah Neumann (5-foot-8), Taylor Martin (5-10) and Hailey Olin (5-8) more than held their own against blocks featuring players often 6-foot-2 and taller.

“Somehow they just kept scoring,” said Dyck of the trio of outside hitters. “They’re so competitive.”

Kennedy Search, Emma Liband, Lexi Riley and libero Mariah Kluver held the back line rotation together as No. 73 seed Sandpoint outlasted the No. 31 seed from Hawaii in three games, and No. 2 seed South Bay in three games to advance to the Sweet 16.

All told, Sandpoint was an impressive 4-1 in three-set matches, a testament to both conditioning and resolve. Dyck also praised the inspired play of Trinity Young and Amy Shepard off the bench at critical times.

“We’re doing a good job of extending rallies,” said Dyck, whose team wore down its opponents. “We got into their heads and they ran out of gas.”

Sandpoint is one of only 48 U16 teams invited to play in the Junior Olympics in June.