Area volleyball roundup: Clark Fork wins a thriller

By CHUCK BANDEL

Mineral Independent

A hard-earned weekend split, highlighted by five-game thriller on the road left the Clark Fork High volleyball team with a 3-3 season mark.

The Lady Mountain Cats opened the weekend action Thursday when they hosted Valley Christian and came away with a hard-fought three games to one match win.

It was a precursor of action that lay ahead.

Valley Christian built a lead and hung on to take game one of their match with Clark Fork, 25-19. But the Cats bounced back in game two for a narrow 25-23 win to tie the match at a game apiece.

Game three was also a nail-biter with Clark Fork holding off the Lady Eagles by scoring the final two points of the set that had been tied at 24-24. The end result was a 26-24 Mountain Cats win and a 2-1 match advantage.

The fourth game was a bit milder compared to games two and three as Clark Fork established control at the midway point, then held off Valley Christian for a 25-18 victory. With that game win Clark Fork won the match 3-1.

Saturday the Lady Mountain Cats traveled to Darby for a match with the Lady Eagles, who came into the afternoon with a 1-6 season record.

This match made the Thursday battle look like a minor skirmish.

The first three games of the match were all decided in volleyball’s equivalent of overtime, with the winning scores exceeding 25 points in all three contests.

Darby won the opening game 26-24, while Clark Fork came back to win game two 27-25. With the match knotted at a game apiece, the Lady Tigers battled back to take a 27-25 thriller in game three, giving them a 2-1 match lead.

Clark Fork then rallied for a 25-18 win in game four, sending the match to the five-game limit. In the final game, with the winner earning the match win, Darby reached deep and pulled out a 15-9 game five victory and a 3-2 match win.

The weekend split evened the Mountain Cats season record at 3-3 as they head to Seeley Tuesday for a game against the powerful Lady Blackhawks, who come into that game with a 6-2 record.

After the trip to Seeley, Clark Fork returns for a home game against St. Regis. That game will be played in Alberton as part of homecoming festivities.

In other area volleyball matches, Thompson Falls continued its winning ways with a three-game sweep of home-standing Arlee last Tuesday. Arlee rebounded from that loss to sweep visiting Plains 3-0 Thursday.

Thompson Falls beat Arlee handily, winning game one 25-15, taking game two 25-14 and wrapping up the match win with a 25-12 victory in game three.

The Blue Hawks return to action Tuesday with a road game in Troy, then return home Thursday night for an encounter with Bigfork.

Plains rolled into Arlee last Thursday night and were not well received by the host Scarlets. Arlee won 25-19, 25-17, 25-18.

Next up for Plains is a home game Tuesday against rival Hot Springs.