Spartan volleyball searches for first IML win

PRIEST RIVER — Through five Intermountain League matches this season, the Priest River volleyball team remains winless.

The latest defeat came last Thursday when the Spartans fell in three sets at Coeur d'Alene Charter.

On Sept. 29, Priest River had its best chance to notch a league win when they fell to Bonners Ferry in five sets at home.

Head coach Meagan Mize said her team can almost taste a league victory.

"I definitely believe physically that they are there and have the capability," she said.

The Spartans are a young team with four sophomores and a freshman seeing significant playing time every night. Given the inexperience, Mize said she knew it would take her team some time to get into the flow of the season and they are starting to, but there are still things they need to work on.

Mize said her team needs to play with more energy and do a better job of staying mentally engaged throughout the match.

Prior to becoming the Priest River head coach this fall, Mize was the coach of the River City Volleyball Club team that was formed in 2019. All of the Spartans played on that squad this past year, so Mize knows the girls really well and believes in all of them.

"I know what these girls can do because I watched them do it during the club season this spring before COVID-19 canceled our season, so I expected better from them then how they've been playing," she said.

If the Spartans play to the level they did against Bonners Ferry, Mize believes they can beat pretty much anybody that stands in their way.

Priest River (1-8, 0-5 IML) will get another chance to secure its first league win when they travel to Timberlake at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Mize said her team needs to communicate and stay positive throughout the match in order to knock off the Tigers.

"It doesn't matter how you start, it's how you finish," she said. "It's just finishing what they started and not giving up."