| Lady
Pirates qualify for State
The Prairie Lady Pirates finished off their regular season with a pair of road matches, losing at Lapwai Tuesday, Oct. 9, then winning at Highland Thursday, Oct. 11. They then opened District play Saturday, Oct. 13 at the LCSC Activity Center and qualified for state by beating C.V. and then Genesee. Prairie jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first game as Kristyna Krogh scored 2 aces and Alexis Hiler and Jordyn Higgins each added a kill. Lapwai came right back to tie the game at 5-5 and then took an 8-11 lead. 
Prairie bounced back to retake the lead at 15-14 on a pair of kills by Theresa Wemhoff but Lapwai then scored the next 5 points for a 15-19 lead. Prairie trailed 16-20 when Ellea Poxleitner scored a kill to send Delaney Lockett to the service line. Lockett proceeded to serve out the game. She had 4 aces while Poxleitner scored a pair of kills and Wemhoff and Krogh each adder 1 kill. In the second game Lapwai took the early lead and led by as many as 7 points at 15-22. Prairie was down 21-24 and managed to come back to tie the game at 24-24 on a kill each by Higgins and Poxleitner and an ace by Hiler. Lapwai scored the sideout but a kill by Wemhoff tied it again. A great volley ensued with Lapwai finally prevailing for another game-point chance and this time they cashed in to even the match at 1 game each. Lapwai took a 0-4 lead in the third game and never trailed as Prairie struggled to put points away. Lapwai would keep digging the ball and sending it back over until Prairie would make a hitting mistake. Lapwai started game 4 with a 0-2 lead but Higgins served the Pirates to a 4-2 lead as Hiler scored 3 consecutive kills. Lapwai tied it but couldn’t take the lead. Prairie led 9-5 after an ace by Ashton Landers and a kill by Krogh. Later on a kill by Higgins put her at the service line. She had an ace while Hiler and Wemhoff added 2 kills each as Prairie took a 19-9 lead. Prairie got to game point at 24-13 after an ace by Madison Shears but then couldn’t put Lapwai away. The Wildcats scored 5 straight points to get within 24-18 before a kill be Hiler evened the match at 2 games apiece. In the fifth game Prairie took a 5-3 lead after an ace by Hiler but then Lapwai took over. The Wildcats scored 4 straight to take a 5-7 lead and then led by as many as 3 on several occasions, the last at 9-12. A kill each by Hiler, Krogh and Wemhoff tied the game at 12 and after a Lapwai timeout, Prairie took the lead at 13-12 on a kill by Hiler. A hitting error gave Lapwai the served the Wildcats were then able to serve out the match. The loss cost Prairie the #2 seed into District but the only difference that really made was who Prairie and Genesee would play in the first round as it was likely they would meet in the second round either way. For the match Wemhoff had 23 kills and 1 ace. Higgins had 17 kills, 1 assist and 4 aces. Hiler had 15 kills, including 2 blocks with 3 assists and 4 aces. Poxleitner had 11 kills, including a block. Krogh had 11 kills, 43 assists and 5 aces. Hope Schwartz had 2 kills and 7 assists. Ashton Landers had 1 kill, 11 assists and 1 ace. Lockett had 8 assists and 4 aces. Shears had 1 assist and 2 aces. The JV team won their match 26-24, 20-25, 15-8. They jumped out to a 12-4 lead in the opening game as Delaney Lockett served 4 aces and Anna Kaschmitter and Brooklyn Riener each added an ace. They extended it to 19-9 on a 6-point serving run by Sydnee Bruegeman. She had 2 aces with Ellea Uhlenkott and Halle Klapprich adding 2 kills each. From that point on Lapwai starting rallying back into the game, eventually tying it at 23-23. A kill by Bruegeman gave Prairie a game-point chance but Lapwai then scored the side out. Riener scored a kill for another game-point chance and then served an ace for the win. The second game saw Lapwai take a 6-12 lead. Prairie was able to close within 1 at 13-14 but couldn’t gain the take much less take a lead as Lapwai held on for a 5-point win. In the third game Lapwai led 3-4 when Riener scored a kill and Uhlenkott followed with a 3-point run to give Prairie the lead for good. Uhlenkott had 2 aces and Klapprich added a kill for a 7-4 lead. Lapwai got back within 1 at 7-6 and again at 8-7 before bricking a serve. Riener then served 2 aces and Klapprich and Anna Kaschmitter each added a kill to make it 13-7. Lapwai scored a sideout but Bruegeman answered back with a sideout kill and then served an ace to win the match. Hiler had 13 kills and 3 aces in the match while Krogh had 20 assists, 5 kills and 3 aces. With the win Prairie closed their regular season with a 13-7 record (including the 2-3 record at the Border Battle) and were 8-4 in league, good for third place. The JV team won 2 of 3 games at Highland.  Krogh
served Prairie to a 4-0 lead in the opening game with 2 aces while Higgins
added 2 kills.
C.V. came back for a 5-6 lead before a net violation sent Hiler to the service line. She served 3 aces for a 9-6 lead. Prairie never gave back the lead although C.V. closed within 1 at 14-13. At 19-15, Landers served 2 aces to make it 21-15. After 5 straight sideouts Hiler scored a kill to get to game point and then scored another for the win. The second game started similar to the first as Prairie took a 5-1 lead only to see C.V. answer back with 5 straight points for a 5-6 lead. Wemhoff scored a kill to break an 8-8 tie and then served 2 aces for an 11-8 lead. Shears, Krogh and Higgins each served for 2 points while Prairie sided out 3 straight C.V. serves for a 20-11 lead. After another pair of sideouts, Hiler served out the game. She had 1 ace while Wemhoff added 2 kills and Poxleitner another. Krogh served Prairie to a 5-0 lead in the third game with 4 aces plus a kill by Hiler. C.V. got back within 3 at 8-5 but 2 aces by Landers made it 11-5. C.V. got back as close as 4 at 19-15 but a kill by Higgins ended that rally. Poxleitner added a kill for a 21-15 lead. After a trade of sideouts, Landers served 2 aces and then set up Krogh for the match winning kill. For the match Hiler had 13 kills, including a block, plus 4 aces. Higgins had 12 kills, 1 assist and 3 aces. Wemhoff had 7 kills and 2 aces. Poxleitner had 6 kills and 1 assist. Krogh had 3 kills, including a block plus 20 assist snad 9 aces. Schwartz had 1 kill and 4 assists. Landeres had 10 assists and 7 aces. Shears had 2 aces. The first game saw Prairie playing flat as they let Genesee score several easy kills. They also had trouble keeping their spikes in play as more than usual went into the net or landed out of bounds as they lost by 11 points. Genesee scored first in the second game then Prairie started to play with more purpose. A tip by Wemhoff gave Prairie their first lead of the match at 2-1 and 2 aces by Higgins and another tip by Wemhoff made it 5-1. After a sideout, Wemhoff scored another kill and Uhlenkott won a joust at the net, prompting a timeout by Genesee. After an ace by Hiler and another tip for a kill by Wemhoff Prairie had a 9-2 lead. After a sideout, Wemhoff scored another kill and Landers followed with an ace and Wemhoff added another kill prompting Genesee to use their second and final timeout. Wemhoff then added another kill to make it 13-3. That was Prairie’s biggest lead as Genesee cut into their lead but and got it down to 6 at 22-16 and again at 23-17. Wemhoff scored a kill to get to game point but Genesee didn’t go down easy. A net foul gave Genesee the serve and they cut the lead down to 24-21 before Landers set up Higgins for the game-winning kill. Prairie took that momentum in to the third game as they took a 7-1 lead behind 3 aces by Krogh and a block and a kill by Hiler plus a second touch tip by Krogh. Genesee then took the momentum back with a 1-9 run that saw them take an 8-10 lead. Prairie tied it on a missed Genesee serve at 12-12 and Wemhoff served 2 aces and Higgins added a kill for a 15-12 lead. Genesee answered with 6 straight to take their own 3 point lead. 
Prairie tied it at 18-18 and again at 19-19 only to see Genesee score 3 for a 19-22 lead. Prairie came back to tie it at 23 on a tip by Wemhoff and set up game point with another tip by Wemhoff. Genesee freshman Lucie Ranisate scored a kill to tie the game at 24-24 but another tip by Wemhoff gave Prairie a second game-point chance. After Genesee fought that one off a block by Poxleitner gave Prairie a third chance at 26-25. A hitting error cost Prairie that one and Genesee scored on a kill by Mikacia Bartosz to set up their first game-point chance. Krogh scored a kill to tie it at 27 and a kill by Higgins gave Prairie a fourth chance. Another hitting error cost the Pirates and Genesee then scored the final 2 points on a kill by Bartosz and a tip by Carly Allen to take a 28-30 win. This was the second point Prairie could have folded up after losing a game they had a chance to win 4 different time. However Higgins scored on a tip and Krogh added an ace to give Prairie a 2-0 lead to start the fourth game. After a sideout, Higgins scored a kill and then served 2 aces with Hiler winning a joust at the net for a 6-1 lead. Genesee came right back through and took an 11-12 lead. They led by as many as 3 at 12-15 and again at 13-16. A kill by Schwartz sent Higgins to the service line. A kill by Wemhoff and an ace tied it at 16-16. Hiler then got lucky when she hit a ball that rolled off the top of the net and down to the right to the floor for a kill. Wemhoff and Schwartz each added a kill for a 19-16 lead. Genesee came back to tie the game at 19-19 before putting a serve into the net. With Hiler serving, Schwartz, Wemhoff and Poxleitner each scored a kill. An ace by Hiler made it 24-19. Hiler then missed a serve but on the next play Poxleitner scored a kill on a set from Krogh to win the game and even the match at 2 games each. In the decisive fifth game Prairie jumped out to a 5-0 lead as Krogh and Higgins each scored a kill and Krogh served 3 aces. Genesee was either rattled or getting tired by this time as they missed 3 serves in the game, the third after they had cut the lead to just 2 points at 11-9. After again cutting the lead to 2 at 12-10, Higgins scored a kill to send Shears to the service line. Hiler slammed one off a Genesee blocker for a kill to get to match point and then poked one over that Genesee mishandled leading to an overhead bump from the back row that wound up going long on Prairie’s side. At that point the players and bench erupted into celebration. After the sluggish first game the biggest difference was Prairie ramping up their defense as they numerous spectacular digs and second touch saves to keep the ball in play. For the match Wemhoff had 24 kills and 3 aces. Higgins had 16 kills, 1 assist and 5 aces. Hiler had 14 kills, including 2 blocks, plus 2 assists and 3 aces. Poxleitner had 8 kills, including 2 blocks. Schwartz had 7 kills and 10 assists. Krogh had 4 kills, 33 assists and 8 aces. Landers had 2 kills, 16 assists and 4 aces. Shears had 1 kill and 1 assist. Prairie takes a 15-7 record into the District Championship match. Prairie will open State Tournament play at 9 a.m. MDT Friday, Oct. 26 at Skyview High School in Nampa against the District 3 champion after losing to Troy in the District Championship match Wednesday, Oct. 17. (details of that match next week)
Hope Schwartz digs a serve at Lapwai as Theresa Wemhoff and MMadison Shears watch. 25-JV at Genesee JV Tourn. 28-Potlatch*, here, won 3 games to 0 6-C.V.*, there, won 3 games to 0
2-C.V.*, here, won 3 games to 0 4-Genesee*, here, 5:00, C/JV/V, lost 0 games to 3 8-Grangeville, here, 5:00, C/JV/V, won 3 games to 0 9-Lapwai*, there, lost 2 games to 3, details next week 11-Highland, there, C/JV/V, 5 p.m., won 3 games to 1 13-17-District at LCSC, beat C.V. 3 games to 0, beat Genesee 3 games to 2. Lost in the District Championship match 0 games to 3 to Troy (details of that match next week. 26-27-State at Skyview High, Nampa, open play at 9 a.m. MDT, Oct. 26 against the Ambrose-Notus winner from the District 3 championship held Oct. 18. *League Game |
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