Bristol, Stevens power Wampus Cats to sweep

CLARK FORK — After waiting a while to play their season opener, the Wampus Cats promptly took care of business when they finally did, sweeping Mullan 25-20, 25-12, 25-22 on Tuesday night in North Star League volleyball at Clark Fork High School.

Brooke Stevens led the Wampus Cats (1-0, 1-0 NSL) with 19 set assists and four aces, Sarah Holderman added three kills and four aces, Hailey Bristol six kills and three aces, Tessa Sutton four kills and Emily Garman 18 digs in the win.

“Hailey had a great game hitting and on the serving line,” praised Cats head coach Cindy Derr. “Brooke did a good job putting the ball up to the hitters. Our passing needs to improve, but they worked through it for the first match of the season.”

Derr played 11 players, and as can be typical in openers, it took a little while for her team to settle in.

“We started out a little slow but this is our first match of the season and they just need to settle down and work hard,” said Derr. “The girls seemed to keep their heads up and didn’t get down, a big improvement from last year already this season.”

The Cats will step up to face a 3A program when they host Bonners Ferry on Thursday, with the JV match starting at 6 p.m. and the varsity to follow at 7:30 p.m.