CFHS volleyball places second in CDA JV consolation bracket
COEUR D’ALENE — The Clark Fork volleyball team has seen its fair share of tournaments, but they hadn’t seen anything like the volleyball marathon that was the Coeur d’Alene JV tournament last Saturday.
The Wampus Cats (3-3-1) finished an even 2-2-1 in the tournament, which pitted two pools of area JV volleyball teams from north Idaho and Spokane against each other in a 12-hour span.
“I thought we did really well considering how long of a day it was,” Clark Fork head coach Michelle Valliere said in an email afterwards. “We arrived at the school about 8:30 a.m. and didn’t leave till about 8:30 p.m. — we have been to a lot of tournaments over the years and have never been there that long.”
Seeded by point spread after two-and-a-half games — officials only let Clark Fork and Sandpoint play the first two sets, which they split 23-25, 25-17 — the Wampus Cats earned a spot in the consolation bracket despite finishing second in their pool.
They finished pool play by beating Gonzaga Prep 25-23, 25-19 in a best-of-three matchup, then by falling to eventual-winners Coeur d’Alene 17-25, 10-25.
In the consolation bracket, the Wampus Cats handled Ferris 25-10, 25-20; they then dropped the rubber match against Gonzaga Prep, 18-25, 13-25.
“Overall it was a good tournament for us to go to we gained more time on the court together,” Valliere said. “I think it will help us start connecting more on the court.”
Senior Ellie Kiebert led Clark Fork with 20 kills and posted the second-highest digs with 16. Fellow senior Sophie McMahon did it all, serving up 15 aces and making five blocks
“Sophie did a great job for us serving,” Valliere said. “She had a bunch of aces and I new when she went back to serve the others teams would have a tough time getting a pass.”
Freshmen Paige Valliere and Emily Myers led the team with 59 assists and seven blocks, respectively.
“Emily did a good job working hard to block the other team,” Michelle Valliere said. “Paige did a great job setting all the hitters. We seemed to make a lot of progress learning to work together as a team.”
Aleehia Valliere led Clark Fork with 20 digs and added 15 kills throughout the tournament.
Clark Fork opens conference play at home this evening against Mullan. The game starts at 5:30 p.m.