Shorthanded Bulldogs struggle at Lewiston tourney

LEWISTON — Sandpoint volleyball had a rough start to the season on Saturday at the Judy Fong Memorial Tournament in Lewiston.

Without three starters, the Bulldogs went 0-3 at the tourney and only won one set.

SHS opened the tournament against Lake City, who went on the win the title without losing a single set. They fell 21-10, 21-7, 21-14 to the Timberwolves. The Bulldogs were originally scheduled to play St. Maries to open the tourney, but the Lumberjacks pulled out of the event due to COVID-19.

In their second match, the Bulldogs lost 25-21, 15-25, 25-23 to Genesee. After that, SHS moved to the silver bracket and suffered a 21-10, 21-9 defeat to Troy.

Senior libero Emma Brown tallied 37 digs and six aces across the three matches. She has also had the highest passing average on the team. Sophomore Audrey Sheffler had 41 assists and two blocks, senior Tori Pelkey racked up nine kills and two blocks and junior Hailey Roeder added 18 kills.

Junior Amaya Russell served six aces and her play in the back row was the highlight of the tournament for head coach Karen Alsager. In her first varsity experience, Alsager said Russell played like a veteran, not a newcomer.

"Amaya has been exceeding my expectations since day one of training camp in what she's doing for us," she said. "I'm very excited for her."

The Bulldogs are extremely young this fall and Saturday's tourney was the first taste of varsity for a significant portion of the team. Alsager said her squad has plenty of potential and they can't get down on themselves.

"I still feel like we have some talent and can do some stuff, but we got to be more discipline across the board," she said.

Sandpoint (0-3) hosts Timberlake at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Alsager is hoping to have two of her starters back for that match.