Timberlake wins league, hosts Volleyball districts

BONNERS FERRY — Rounding out Intermountain League play, Bonners Ferry volleyball fell to Timberlake 25-20, 25-17, 16-25, 25-22 Thursday night. Timberlake will host districts today and Wednesday.

For the second time this season the lone IML opponents went to extra sets, as the Badgers had beaten the Tigers 3-2 in Spirit Lake the week prior.

On Oct. 12, the Tigers won the first two sets.

Between sets, Bonners Ferry head coach Cynthia Cummings told the Badgers to play the way they know how.

The Badgers came back strong in the third and pulled into the lead after several aces by Aspen Hill. The Badger led by nine points and set the match into additional sets by winning 25-16.

In the fourth set the Badgers were down 14-21, but came back with an eight point run, making it 22-24.

The Tigers earned the deciding point by hitting the far corner of the court, while remaining inbounds to the disbelief of the Badger defense.

Maci Sandbank had seven kills and four digs as the Timberlake Tigers avenged the precious loss against Bonners Ferry.

Timberlake won the tiebreaker between the two teams (5-4 in sets won in the two head-to-head matches), so Timberlake will host the best-of-3 series between the two teams for the 3A District 1 championship this Monday and Wednesday, and Thursday if necessary.

Isabelle Torr had six digs and two aces for Timberlake (4-11, 1-1 IML). Diana Nelson had four kills and four blocks, Jozee MacArthur 17 assists, Amarijana Oliveiri three kills and five aces, Jesi Kitchin five digs, three kills and two aces.

For Bonners Ferry (8-10, 1-1) Taren Bateman had 15 kills, three aces, 12 digs and a block. Helene Rae had eight kills, two aces, one block and 11 digs.

Avery Bayer had 24 digs, Aspen Hill had five aces and two blocks, Ellie Falck had 12 digs and 27 assists.