Big year in store for powerhouse Wampus Cat volleyball team

Expectations high with four returning all-league players

By ERIC PLUMMER

Sports editor

CLARK FORK — Give it up for the 2018 Clark Fork volleyball team, which is stepping up several weight classes this season and entering the Lakeland Tournament as a 1A program, mixing it up with schools quite literally 20 times their size in enrollment.

It’s the sort of thing you do only when you know you’ve got the chops and horses to compete, and this year’s Wampus Cat squad is loaded with talent, experience and lofty ambitions.

Longtime coach Cindy Derr has been in the game long enough to know you improve exponentially when you play up, and with firm designs on a state trophy, that’s exactly what she’s doing. Way, way up.

“I pushed to get in the Lakeland Tournament. They don’t seem to be afraid to challenge that, and it will help us for state,” says Derr of her team, which went 1-2 at state last season and learned a valuable lesson in the process. “They were shell shocked. It was good for them to go to state last year. Now that they’ve had a taste of state, they know what to do.”

Orchestrating the offense this year is senior three-year starter and returning North Star League Most Valuable Player Brooke Stevens, one of the top setters in North Idaho, regardless of classification.

She eclipsed 30 set assists in a handful of matches, and regularly posted 20 plus last season, en route to 356 on the season. She’s also a strong server, defender and leader, a player Derr will lean on heavily.

“She’s been working really hard, going to Spokane for setting practice. She just loves the game and knows it really well,” describes Derr. “She’s more of a leader than she’s ever been. She’ll be calling plays and have to learn how to be the quarterback on the floor.”

With a core group of players that have been together for years and boast a wealth of varsity experience, Derr is going to expand the offense, with Stevens calling and executing scripted attacks.

“We’re going to focus on running some plays, doing more than just the basics,” explains Stevens, who likes the mindset of the team. “We rely on each other a lot, so it’s important for all of us to stay positive and encouraging to each other.”

The Wampus Cats went 16-9 last season, and cruised through league play at a 9-1 clip. They return nearly every key contributor, each a year wiser and stronger, eager to attack a salty schedule for a 1A team. Besides the Lakeland Tournament, which features 5A and 4A schools, the Cats will play up again in the Genessee Tournament.

Hammering kills in the attack will be senior outside hitter Hailey Bristol, one of four returning all-league players. She led the Cats last season with 145 kills, also ripping 36 aces, and will look to improve upon those numbers in her fourth year on varsity.

“Hailey is our go-to hitter, she just hits really hard and it’s not always the same hit,” describes Derr. “We’re working on a quicker game, once we get it down she’ll be a huge surprise.”

Serving will be a definitive strength for the Cats, with a handful of players capable of long service runs. Last year junior Ellie Kiebert led the team with 61 aces to go with 111 kills to earn all-league honors.

Kiebert had six or more aces in a match four times last year, including a season high 11 against Kootenai, and according to Derr, those numbers could see a considerable spike this season.

“She’s got a mean jump serve, she’s perfected it,” claims Derr. “Ellie will be the surprise attack on the right side,”

Also able to end points with conviction is senior Tessa Sutton, a 5-10 middle blocker who posted 84 kills last season, the fourth and final Cat to earn all-league honors. She’ll team with twin sister Ali Sutton and junior Sophie McMahon to form a mean middle block. Senior outside hitter Grace Shelton will also get swings in the attack, yet another option for Stevens to consider when distributing the rock.

Anchoring the back row defensively are senior libero Ellie Lambert, and juniors Abbie Anderson and Aleehia Valliere, all of whom are happy to hit the floor to keep a ball alive. If Clark Fork has an identity over the years, it’s scrappy defense, which rarely slumps from night to night.

Derr has coached the Wampus Cats to a second place and two third place finishes at state in the past, and with assistant coach Michelle Valliere and JV head coach Lyndsie Kiebert helping out, is hoping to add to that impressive résumé.

Derr knows it’s a special group of girls that doesn’t come around very often, a stellar senior class that wants to end things on a high note.

“They’ve all figured out this is it. They’ve come to play. They realize this is the last time we’ll be together,” says Derr, noting the girls have been playing club ball together for years. “A bunch of girls that are into the game and want to win. We’ve been working on it for six years.”