SHS claims 15th in Spokane tourney

SANDPOINT — Behind the strong hitting of Taylor Martin and Kayla Neumann, and the deft setting of Darbey Scrimsher, the Sandpoint volleyball team slammed its way to a 15th place finish out of 64 teams on Saturday at the Linda Sheridan Volleyball Classic in Spokane.

The Bulldogs (13-13) beat Jackson 25-20, 17-25 and 15-13, and Walla Walla 25-25, 25-17 for their two wins on the day, as their losses were 25-12 to Rogers, 25-19, 26-24 to Lake City, and 25-22, 29-27 to Lewiston.

Martin finished with 24 kills, 30 digs and six aces for the tourney, Neumann added 24 kills, 19 digs and four aces, and Scrimsher 95 set assists and 31 digs, as the loss to reigning 5A state champion Lewiston shows how far the Bulldogs have progressed this season.

“This is the largest high school volleyball tournament on the west coast, with 64 teams from four different states. Ironically, we ended up in the championship gold division bracket playing local teams, Lake City and Lewiston. That says a lot for the level of play in northern Idaho,” said Bulldogs head coach Erin Roos. “We finally stepped onto the court focused and ready to compete on Saturday. It was great to see the girls communicating and playing with some fire.”

Trinity Young tallied 18 digs, Lexi Riley 16 kills and Amy Shepard 19 kills and 22 digs for the Bulldogs, who travel to face one of the best Coeur d’Alene teams in recent memory on Tuesday. Roos was pleased with the offensive execution.

“Kayla, Lexi and Taylor led a strong attack and are really using their court vision to see open shots,” she said. “Amy had some long serving runs and steady net play and Darbey made smart setting choices and played hard.”