SHS volleyball secures first league victory
Junior Amaya Russell gets down for a dig on Tuesday at Les Rogers Court.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Senior Tori Pelkey celebrates with her teammates after the Bulldogs win a point during Tuesday's match.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Audrey Sheffler sets the ball for a teammate.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Hailey Roeder rises up for a kill.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Lauren Breuner gets down for a dig.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Hailey Roeder prepares to rise up for a kill.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Vivian Platte rises up for a kill.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Audrey Sheffler celebrates with her teammates after a point.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Audrey Sheffler sets the ball on Tuesday.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
Lauren Breuner celebrates after the Bulldogs win a point against Lewiston on Tuesday.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY)
SANDPOINT — Sandpoint volleyball is rounding into form at just the right time.
After ending a six-game losing streak on Saturday, the Bulldogs picked up their second straight victory on Tuesday, downing Lewiston in four sets, 26-24, 25-21, 22-25, 25-20.
It's Sandpoint's first Inland Empire League win of the season.
The energy the Bulldogs played with was evident and all match they fed off the noise from the SHS pep band. The electric atmosphere inside the gym brought the best out of the Bulldogs.
"This is the best I've seen them play this year," head coach Karen Alsager said. "I felt like we had fun, and I felt like we were able to play passionate, but relaxed."
Sandpoint came storming out of the gates in the opening set, forcing the Bengals to play on their heels.
A kill from Tori Pelkey and back-to-back points from Hailey Roeder allowed the Bulldogs to grab a 18-15 lead. But Lewiston came right back to take a 24-23 advantage.
Facing set point, Alsager called a timeout and the Bulldogs regrouped and won three straight points to take the first set. Lauren Breuner had the set-winning point.
It was the Bulldogs' first opening set victory of the season and Alsager said it was nice to not play from behind for once.
Sandpoint kept things rolling in the second set. The Bulldogs gained a 23-20 advantage on back-to-back aces from Amaya Russell and closed out the set to go up 2-0 on the Bengals.
Russell served 21 balls on Tuesday with three aces and one error. Alsager said her play on the service line was huge for the Bulldogs.
"She served so hard," Alsager said. "She was absolutely key."
The Bengals didn't go away quietly though. They jumped out to a 11-5 lead in the third set to force a Sandpoint timeout. The Bulldogs responded with a 10-0 run and the two teams went back and forth the rest of the set. Lewiston's Peytin Thompson blasted a kill to seal the set win and help the Bengals avoid being swept.
The Bulldogs shook off the defeat and looked determined to put away the Bengals in the fourth set. They took an 8-7 lead and never trailed the rest of the game to earn their third victory of the season.
Pelkey led the team in kills with 12, Breuner had 11 and Roeder added nine. Audrey Sheffler tallied 24 set assists, Emma Brown racked up 23 digs, Haley McAuliffe served three aces, and Vivian Platte and Pelkey each had four blocks.
Everyone contributed to Tuesday's victory, and Alsager felt like the Bulldogs were more balanced than Lewiston and able to set all their hitters.
"I just felt like we were a well-rounded team," she said. "I know we can be a good team, it's just putting all the pieces together at one time is what we haven't done. I felt closer to that tonight."
Sandpoint utilized what Alsager calls "candy-bar tips" all night and Lewiston had no answer.
The Bulldogs (3-9, 1-4 IEL) will look to carry momentum from this victory into Thursday's match at Lakeland. It's the first matchup between the two rivals this fall.
"I hope we can ride this for a little bit," Alsager said. "This is nice going into Lakeland with a little bit of confidence that we've been missing."
