Lady Miners drop home opener to Panthers
KIRBY KRULITZ COURT — Sometimes its about beating your opponent right out of the gate, but sometimes its about outlasting them.
The later was the Wallace High School Volleyball team’s downfall Thursday night when they were swept in three matches by the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy Lady Panthers.
The Lady Miners started out strong in the first match, consistently racking up points and keeping it a virtual tie until things came down to wire.
As both teams reached the 20 point mark, the Lady Panthers stepped up their offense and scored several points in a row to take the match 22-25.
The second match started out incredibly similar to the first with both teams racking up points, staying neck-and-neck.
The Wallace offense got a huge boost in this match from Destiny Angle when she stepped up to serve.
Racking up a total of five aces throughout the night, Angle gave Wallace a fighting chance.
Unfortunately, the Lady Miners faltered once again at the end and lost the second match by the same score as the first.
Determined to stay in the game, Wallace started strong again and took the lead several times, only to lose it after making several mental mistakes.
Impressive supporting play from Angle (seven total digs) and Makayla Carlson (10 total assists) were reasons why the Lady Miners stayed in the match.
Anali Spooner, Wallace Volleyball coach, commended Carlson’s player, calling her the “team leader.”
Even with the impressive play from these two seniors, it was not enough to keep Wallace from falling into their same bad habits.
Coeur d’Alene would make yet another late game push for a 20-25 win and put a Wallace comeback completely out of reach.
Spooner contributed the night’s outcome not to being physically outplayed, but mentally.
“I think its a head thing,” Spooner explained, “(its about) not getting down on themselves when they miss a serve, miss a set, miss a hit...just stay in the game.”
The Wallace Volleyball team (0-1) will get a chance to even up their overall record on Tuesday, Sept. 5 when they take on Superior/ Alberton High School in Alberton, Mont.