Newport Match Will Be Tall Order, Even For Defending Champ Colfax

Prep volleyball

Northeast A volleyball could reach new heights Saturday at Colfax.

When Newport arrives in town to challenge the defending State A champion Bulldogs, the court will resemble the paint in basketball.

Colfax is tall enough, with 5-foot-11 Lindsay Thiele and Alison Harder, and 5-10 Laura Widman and Angie Hall.

But Newport counters with even taller girls - Michele Carrara and Carey Sauer at 6-1 and Heidi Schulz at 6-0.

“Newport has good athletes and a good coach (Linda Haptonstall),” said Colfax coach Sue Doering. “We’ve been coaching against each other a long time. It’s a friendly, healthy rivalry.”

Colfax’s first team has lost just one game this year - to Idaho powerhouse St. Maries. The Bulldogs also won a game from St. Maries, a state finalist for the past 15 years.

Before today’s matches, Colfax stood at 5-0 and Newport 4-0.

Through a quirk in the Bi-County League schedule, three teams could reach the halfway point with perfect records.

Two-time defending State B champion Wilbur-Creston, 1993 champ Davenport and five-time champ Odessa may move into Tuesday’s matches with unbeaten marks.

Tuesday’s matches - including Davenport at Odessa and Ritzville at W-C - should unscramble matters somewhat. Reardan, with just one loss, will attempt to play spoiler during today’s match at Davenport.

East Valley (5-0), which plays winless Riverside Tuesday, should reach the halfway point of the Frontier League season with a perfect record. The Knights qualified for state last year.

Greater Spokane League

Second-place Rogers (8-1) survived a scare Wednesday, rebounding from fifth-game deficits of 7-1 and 11-7 for a 7-15, 15-3, 15-8, 5-15, 15-12 win over visiting Shadle Park (2-7).

Karly Nill had 24 kills and 33 digs, and she and Angel Fairbanks had crucial blocks to lead the fifth-game win. Michelle Etter had 15 kills and eight blocks, and Brooke Olzendam 21 digs for the Highlanders.

Elsewhere, Andrea Carnahan’s serving in the first game and Jessica Sanborn’s stuff blocks in the middle game lifted third-place Mead (7-2) to a 15-6, 15-2, 15-8 win over visiting Gonzaga Prep (4-5).

Staci Schuerman of Mead added five kills and seven digs on her birthday. Missy Blackshire’s 12 kills and four aces helped league-leading Ferris (9-0) to a 15-7, 15-11, 15-9 win over visiting Central Valley (3-6). Ferris became the first team to clinch a district berth.

Sarah Menard had 12 digs and eight kills and North Central (2-7) jumped to an 11-0 third-game lead to beat visiting University (0-9) 15-7, 15-4, 15-3 and avoid the cellar.

, DataTimes