Lady Cats undefeated season in league spoiled by Mullan
Sophomore Paige Valliere sets up the ball for a teammate during a match against Priest River on Sept. 19.
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE)
CLARK FORK — A third straight undefeated season in North Star League play slipped away from Clark Fork volleyball on Thursday night as they fell to Mullan in five sets, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-27, 15-12.
In their second match of the season on Sept. 8, the Lady Cats took care of Mullan in three sets.
"Mullan really stepped up their game and showed up to play," head coach Michelle Valliere said. "Mullan just wanted it more. They've been wanting to beat us for the last I don't know how many years and they finally got us."
Valliere said her team didn't play their best and she thinks they went into the match expecting to win and that attitude came back to bite them.
"Hopefully the girls realize they aren't invincible and step up their game a little bit," she said.
Paige Valliere had 32 assists, 17 digs and four aces and Caiya Yanik tallied 17 digs, 14 kills and two blocks. Katelyn Matteson added 10 kills and Taylor Staley notched seven. Emily Myers grabbed 15 digs.
The loss ends a seven-game winning streak by the Lady Cats. It's also their first NSL defeat since 2017.
Clark Fork (9-2, 3-1 NSL) heads to Noxon at 6 p.m. Tuesday.