Miners, Wildcats get big volleyball wins
Photo by Les McPhail Miner Colton Holzheu makes a tackle on a Kootenai player during the Miners’ loss to the Warriors last week.
Courtesy photo/ Wallace swimmers Eli Bishop, Izayah Jaramillo, and Dorsey Pearson following their meet at the Kroc Center last week.
Photos by Josh McDonald Wallace libero Kali Davis prepares to serve the ball during Wallace’s recent match with Kootenai. Hayley Oertli sets the ball up for one of her hitters during the second set of the Miners’ North Star League win over Kootenai.
Hayley Oertli sets the ball up for one of her hitters during the second set of the Miners’ North Star League win over Kootenai.
Wallace High School
Volleyball
WALLACE — The Wallace Miners rebounded from tough losses to Kellogg and Cd’A Charter last week with a decisive 3-set win over Kootenai (25-19, 25-7, 25-10) on Sept. 11 at Kirby Krulitz Court.
The Miners used the opening set to feel out their North Star League competition, but after that they pulled away they never looked back for the rest of the match.
Sets two and three were all Wallace as the Miners only gave up points off their own miscues.
Miner Hayley Oertli paced Wallace from the service line, but it was a combination of Oertli and several of her teammates who put the Warriors away for good.
Wallace’s serving is what had hurt them significantly in their previous two matches which is why Spooner put an emphasis on serving in the practices prior to Tuesday night.
“We did a lot better on out serving than we had, and Hayley (Oertli) killed it for us,” coach Anali Spooner said. “We mixed up our rotation a bit tonight and it definitely helped. I felt like Catie Sheppard and Maggie Howard really stepped up for us hitting the ball and Kali Davis worked really hard for us on our back row.”
Wallace d. Genesis Prep: The visiting Miners prevailed 25-17, 25-20, 25-17 in North Star League play on Sept. 15 at Post Falls Middle School.
The Miners continued their winning ways and improved to 4-2 on the season.
Football
Kootenai 42, Wallace 0: The Miners dropped their second game in row last week when the Kootenai Warriors shut them out 42-0 on homecoming.
The Sept. 14 game was a battle of two former rivals, but you wouldn’t have guessed which one became the powerhouse and which one played in Idaho’s smallest classification.
“The game was hard fought, but we just got out hustled by a Kootenai team that played with a hunger,” Miner head coach Jared Young said. “They won more one-on-one matchups than we did. All the credit goes to Kootenai, they wanted it and we didn’t do the little things you need to do to be successful.”
Those little things translated to a brutal score, but it wasn’t so much that the Miners were defenseless, in fact it was the opposite.
“We would get them in third and long situations and they would make a play through the air,” Young mentioned. “They had a good quarterback and he put the ball where it needed to be. And every time we would get something going we fumbled or had a few mental mistakes, We need to get better and this week will be working on the details that you need to be good at every play.”
Wallace (1-2) will need to rebound quickly as they host Whitepine League opponent Potlatch on Friday at 7 p.m.
Mullan High School
Football
Clark Fork 50, Mullan 24: The Tigers stumbled late and it cost them big in their Sept. 14 Northstar League matchup at Clark Fork.
Trailing 20-18 headed into the final quarter, the Tigers looked to be very much alive in the contest, but then things went awry.
The Tigers were without regular starters Chandler Holling and Joe Morris, which wasn’t an issue until late when fatigue began to show on the faces on the nine remaining players on the Mullan-St. Regis bench.
“I hate excuses but compared to our first two games not having the two starters and two extra bodies to rotate did hurt,” coach Stetson Spooner said. “But hats off to a well coached and disciplined Clark Fork team. Coach Arthun had a well prepared team and made great adjustments throughout the game.”
Mullan (1-2) travels to Kendrick this week for another big league contest.
Volleyball
Kootenai d. Mullan: The visiting Tigers fell to the Kootenai Warriors in five sets on Sept. 13. No further info was received.
Kellogg High School
Volleyball
Kellogg d. Bonners Ferry: The Kellogg Wildcat volleyball team got a signature win for their program on Sept. 11 when they knocked off Bonners Ferry on the road in four sets (25-18, 16-25, 25-11, 25-19).
“As a team we had great energy, communication and stuck to the game plan,” coach Stephanie Brunner said. “We finally played as a team, even the people on the bench helped us with communication and energy.”
Cierra Brandt and Erin VanHoose played outstanding for the Wildcats on the road.
Kellogg d. Cd’A Charter: The Wildcats earned their second road Intermountain League win of the week when they knocked off Cd’A Charter in four sets (26-24, 25-27, 25-12, 25-11) on Sept. 13.
Coach Brunner was pleased with her team’s play and how methodical they were against a very game Charter squad.
“Charter is a hard team to beat,” Brunner said. “You have to earn your points by strategically placing the ball. They keep almost every ball and hustle after shanked passes. As a team they only missed one serve if my memory recalls me right.”
Jaron Figueroa had a solid outing for the Wildcats finishing with 1 ace, 1 block, 9 kills, and 5 digs, while teammate Kat Rauenhorst played her best match of the season finishing with 6 kills, 4 aces, and 6 blocks.
Coach Brunner was also pleased with the performances of Hailey Cheney and Shaelyn Durham.
Kellogg (at the time of this writing) is 3-1 on the season (2-0 IML), but hosted Priest River last night.
Soccer
St. Maries 4, Kellogg 0: The Wildcats couldn’t overcome a sluggish effort and were shutout by the visiting Lumberjacks on Sept. 13.
“I was not real pleased with the overall effort we had on the field,” coach Craig Petersen said. “St. Maries is a good team and I was disappointed the girls didn't play to their potential. Shea Curran was a standout in goal and kept the game close.”
Kellogg 2, Bonners Ferry 0: The Wildcats used a new lineup to compensate for the back to back games and it worked out as they knocked off the Badgers for the second time this season, with a Sept. 14 shutout in Bonners Ferry.
“It’s never easy playing back to back games so I made some lineup changes,” Coach Petersen said. “I put freshman Rylie Milholland in as goalkeeper and Shea Curran (regular goalkeeper) played defense. The team showed great energy and really played well for 80 minutes.”
Senior Taeya Sheppard kicked both goals for the Wildcats who are very much alive in the Intermountain League, but will have tough tests in the form of Priest River and Cd’A Charter this week.