Clark Fork volleyball looks ahead to playoffs

By CHUCK BANDEL

Valley Press

The final week of the regular season for many teams can mean putting away the nets and thinking about next year.

For the Clark Fork Lady Mountain Cats, it means looking ahead to the playoffs.

The Lady Cats split a pair of games this past week against top-seeded competition and in so doing made themselves a threat to advance as the playoffs get underway.

Clark Fork closed out its regular season Thursday night with a home court loss to powerful Charlo, one of the top seeds heading into district play. Two nights earlier, they traveled to Hot Springs and took down another playoff favorite, the Lady Savage Heat.

The mixed results are typical of a season in which the young Clark Fork squad has emerged as a force with which to be reckoned.

Tuesday night in Hot Springs, they faced a 10-3 Savage Heat team and came away with a 3-1 match victory.

Junior standout Sorren Reese had a monster match against Hot Springs, recording 23 kills, three blocks and seven service aces to lead the Lady Cats’ attack.

Clark Fork jumped out to an early lead in game one of that match before the host team rallied to tie the score at 8-8.

With Reese unleashing several thundering kill shots, and teammates Bailey Milender and Cassise Green pitching in assists and digs, the Lady Cats quickly pulled out to a 19-11 lead.

Hot Springs responded with several outstanding plays of its own to cut the deficit to 22-21. However, the Cats regrouped following a timeout and rattled off three straight points to win the game 25-21 and take a 1-0 match lead.

The Lady Savage Heat opened game two with a brief 3-0 lead before Clark Fork tied the score at three each. The two teams traded rallies throughout the rest of the second game, including three ties, the last being a repeat of the 22-21 Clark Fork advantage in game one.

Hot Springs cut the margin to one before Clark Fork scored three straight to take a 25-22 win and a 2-0 match lead.

The Lady Savage Heat pulled it all together in game three, jumping to an early lead and holding on for a 25-19 win that seemed to change the momentum of the match.

Clark Fork halted that momentum in game four when it bolted to a quick 8-1 lead, then controlled things the rest of the way for a 25-19 win and a 3-1 match victory.

The loss dropped Hot Springs to 10-4 on the year, while the win propelled Clark Fork to 7-6. In addition to Reese’s big game, the Lady Cats got 19 assists from Green, while Milender had 10 digs.

It was a different story for the Lady Mountain Cats against Charlo Thursday night in Charlo.

The Lady Vikings entered the game with 12-0 record, including a pair of wins over Hot Springs.

Home court was once again kind to Charlo as they swept Clark Fork 3-0 in what despite the score was a hard-fought contest.

Charlo grabbed the opening game 25-18, took game two 25-17 and completed the match sweep with a 25-20 win in game three to run their season mark to 13-0. Clark Fork fell to 8-8.

Reese had another solid offensive night for the Mountain Cats, wracking up 11 kills to go with a pair of blocks. Green added eight assists, while Payton Milender had 10 digs and two service aces.

Next action for the Lady Mountain Cats is a first round playoff game tonight (Tuesday) in Superior at 6:30 against Noxon.