St. Regis pushes Charlo in tight match

In hindsight, the volleyball match between Charlo and St. Regis Thursday night might have been a harbinger of matches to come.

Someone was going to be the first to knock off Charlo and the Lady Tigers took a good shot at it. Charlo would lose for the first time two nights later to Noxon.

At the very least, the 3-1 Charlo win over the Lady Tigers featured what arguably was the best single set of the year in local high school volleyball action.

The Lady Vikings from Charlo had cruised into town riding a season-long win streak that included only a handful of matches where the Lady Vikings lost a set.

That almost changed in the most dramatic of fashions, much to the delight of a loud, full-house of volleyball fans who were treated to outstanding play by both teams.

Charlo took the opening set in a relatively easy manner, out-playing the Lady Tigers at the net and in almost all other phases of the game on their way to a 25-14 win and a 1-0 match advantage.

That was about to change.

Despite trailing early and throughout most of the second set, St. Regis stayed within striking range of victory, thwarting several potential runs by Charlo. The gritty Lady Tigers would eventually catch Charlo and tie the score at 24-24 in game two. The score would be tied two more times, 25-all and 26-each before the Lady Vikings managed to escape with a draining 28-26 set win and a 2-0 match lead.

But despite the intense play, St. Regis fought on and even kicked it up a notch in the pivotal set three. That set also went the distance before St. Regis was able to eke out a 25-23 win and pull within 2-1 in the match.

However, Charlo had enough left to pull away in the fourth set for a 25-16 match-clinching win.

The Lady Vikings were led by Hayleigh Smith, who had 15 kills, 12 digs and three service aces on the night. Payton Smith recorded an eye-popping 41 assists for the visitors.

St. Regis got 21 digs from Shylan Dalka and 16 assists from Shelby Simkins.

Despite the heart-breaking loss, St. Regis coach Kianna Barnett was clearly happy with the effort her Lady Tigers put forth.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our girls,” she said. “They really brought it”.

The Lady Tigers have two more regular season matches before the District playoffs. They host Superior tonight (Oct 18), then travel to Drummond to take on the Western 13C leading Prospectors Saturday night.