Clark Fork starts fast, ultimately loses to Priest River in four

PRIEST RIVER — For the second time this season, Clark Fork volleyball couldn’t quite take down Priest River as they fell in four sets 25-13, 26-28, 20-25, 16-25 Wednesday night.

Clark Fork head coach Michelle Valliere said her team battled the entire match.

“Priest River is a pretty good team and the first game we played really strong,” she said. “The second game we kind of let up a bit and we came back at the end, but we didn’t finish it. Then the third and fourth game we kind of hit a lull and didn’t come back out of it.”

Michelle Valliere said there was a combination of things the Lady Cats failed to execute on that ultimately led to the loss.

“We weren’t talking enough on the court,” she said, “and we were just making little mistakes like hitting the ball in the net or going to pass a ball and its going out so we shank it.”

Senior outside hitter Ellie Kiebert stepped up for the Lady Cats and had 12 kills while senior libero Aleehia Valliere notched 26 digs. Freshman setter Paige Valliere tallied 21 assists and senior middle hitter Sophie McMahon led the team with three blocks.

Michelle Valliere said she was pleased with her team’s serving and passing against the Spartans, but wants them to work on blocking, focusing on their side of the court and keeping their energy up throughout each set.

The Lady Cats return home for their final match of the regular season 1:30 p.m. Saturday against Sandpoint JV. Clark Fork will honor its seven seniors on the JV and varsity teams prior to the match.

Michelle Valliere is looking for her team to end the regular season on a high note.

“At the beginning of the season, we were able to push through and win against some of these harder teams,” she said, “and at the end of the season we’ve kind of let up so ... I hope we can push through and talk, work as a team and pull out a win.”