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Pirates advance to State
The Prairie Lady Pirates took the roundabout path as they had to win 4 matches in 6 days in 3 different cities to earn a trip to state after losing to Genesee in the semifinals at District. They started with their win over Potlatch, reported in last week’s Chronicle, on Monday, Oct. 17. On Tuesday, Oct. 18, they beat Lapwai in 4 games to place third at the District Tournament at the LCSC Activity Center in Lewiston. On Thursday, Oct. 20, they traveled to Coeur d’Alene where they swept the Wallace Miners in 3 games at Coeur d’Alene High School. Finally on Saturday, Oct. 22, they took a short trip over to Craigmont where they swept Idaho City in 3 games at Highland High School. They will now travel to Rigby High School for the State Tournament where they will play District 3 champion Horseshoe Bend at 9 a.m. MDT Friday, Oct. 28. 
In the opening game Mykaela McWilliams and Chaye Uptmor each had a service run that broke open a close game. McWilliams served 4 straight to turn a 3-3 tie into a 7-3 lead. She had 2 aces while Leah Higgins had a kill and a block. Uptmor followed 2 service turns later with a 5-point run that made it 14-6. She also had 2 aces with Higgins and Sydney Bruner each adding a kill and Angela Wemhoff a block. Prairie kept pulling away for an easy 25-12 win. For the second game they seemed to go flat as Lapwai jumped to a 0-4 lead and led 5-11 when Higgins scored a sideout kill to send Uptmor to the service line. Uptmor served Prairie into the lead with 4 aces plus a kill each by Higgins and Bruner. Prairie never trailed again in the game although Lapwai tied it at 12 and 20. Bruner wound up scoring the game winning kill on a spike that appeared headed out of bounds that Lapwai made a play on. With a 2 games to none lead, coach Cheyenne Hudson gave her subs lots of playing time in the third game. Lapwai jumped out to a 1-6 lead by Madison Pecarovich served Prairie back to an 8-8 tie with 3 aces plus 2 kills by Wemhoff. Prairie could never take the lead though and Lapwai held them off to pick up the win. Lapwai took that momentum into the fourth game with Prairie going back to their regulars. Lapwai kept it close all the way through as there were 7 lead changes and 13 ties. Prairie took a 23-22 lead on a kill by Wemhoff but Lapwai answered back with 3 straight points for a game point chance at 23-24. Lapwai bricked the served and Prairie came back with a kill each by Uptmor and Higgins to finish off the match. We feel Lapwai would be a lot tougher out if they used their starting middle, JeLondra Wilson, the way Troy does Abby Blum. She scored a lot of kills but Lapwai spread the hits out and didn’t always make the best use of her when she was in the front row. For the match McWilliams had 15 kills, which included 2 blocks, plus 1 assist and 3 aces. Uptmor had15 kills, 4 assists and 6 aces. Leah Higgins had 14 kills, including 1 block, plus 1 assist. Wemhoff had 12 kills, including a block, plus 28 assists and an ace. Bruner had 9 kills, 4 assists and 4 aces. Pecarovich had 1 kills, 17 assists and 3 aces. Sam Remacle had 2 kills. Nicole Poxleitner and Jordyn Higgins each had 1 kill. Kristyna Krogh had 4 assists and Darlene Gehring had 1 ace. P  rairie
dominated the first game with Krogh making a long stay on the service line
as she served Prairie from an 8-6 lead into an 18-6 lead before finally
missing a serve. Krogh features a consistent jump serve that recorded 3
aces but mostly is put in play and gives Prairie a chance to score.
Uptmor and Higgins had 3 kills each in Krogh’s run while Wemhoff added a kill. After Krogh’s run ended, Prairie scored a quick sideout on a kill by Higgins. Uptmor served 2 aces before Wallace scored a kill. Bruner scored a quick sideout kill and Higgins served 2 aces. McWilliams scored the game-winning kill. After the easy first game win, Prairie played like a deflated balloon in the second game. They appeared to have little energy left as Wallace took an early lead and led by as many as 8 points 4 times, at 9-17, 12-20, 13-21 and 14-22. A bricked serve made it 15-22 and McWilliams served an ace. Uptmor and Higgins followed with a kill each to make it 18-22. A bad set led to a sideout and Wallace added another point to get to game point at 18-24. Wemhoff scored a kill to stave off the first game point then went to the service line. She served up an ace and Higgins and Uptmor each followed with a kill. Another ace and another kill by Higgins tied the game at 24-24. A hitting error gave Wallace another game-point chance but Uptmor made a tough dig and Wemhoff tipped the ball over in 2 to tie it again. Uptmor then served 2 aces as Prairie pulled out the win. Down 6 at game point is the biggest do or die rally we can remember seeing from a Prairie volleyball team. Wallace scored the first two points in the third game but Prairie pretty much took over from there. Wemhoff served Prairie to a 4-2 lead and they never trailed the rest of the match. Leah Higgins had 16 kills in the match plus 1 assist and 3 aces. Uptmor had 12 kills, 1 assist and 5 aces. McWilliams had 10 kills, 2 assists and 1 ace. Wemhoff had 4 kills, 22 assists and 6 aces. Bruner had 3 kills and 2 aces. Pecarovich had 2 kills and 7 assists. Krogh had 8 assists and 4 aces. Gehring had 1 ace and Remacle had 1 kill. Prairie really didn’t have too much trouble as they won 25-14, 25-13 and 25-17. 
Wemhoff served Prairie to a 6-1 lead in the opener as McWilliams dominated at the net with 3 kills and a block. Bruner added 2 kills. Idaho City managed to get back within 2 at 13-11 but Wemhoff’s second turn at the line broke the game open. McWilliams scored the kill that sent Wemhoff to the line and made it 16-12. Wemhoff then served 5 straight with 3 aces plus a kill each from Higgins and McWilliams as Prairie took a 21-12 lead. Bruner added 2 aces and Uptmor scored the game winning kill. In the second game Uptmor served 3 straight with 2 aces plus a kill by Higgins that gave Prairie a 5 point lead. Prairie steadily added to the advantage getting 2 and 3 point service runs while not allowing Idaho City many points on serve. In the third game Prairie’s subs got a chance to play and it looked dicey early on as Prairie trailed 7-9 before Idaho City missed a serve. Krogh then served 3 straight aces and Jordyn Higgins added a kill for a 12-9 lead. It was still close at 16-13 when another bad serve by Idaho City sent Bruner to the service line. Bruner had her jump serve working with 4 aces plus a kill each by McWilliams and Wemhoff as Prairie took a 23-13 lead. Idaho City tried to rally back but a kill by McWilliams got Prairie to match point and after seeing Idaho City fight it off twice, Higgins scored the match winner on a tip. For the match McWilliams had 16 kills, including a block, plus 1 assist and 1 ace. Uptmor had 6 kills, 2 assists and 4 aces. Leah Higgins had 6 kills and 1 ace. Bruner ha 4 kills and 10 aces. Wemhoff had 3 kills, 20 assists and 5 aces. Pecarovich had 3 kills and 9 assists. Krogh had 5 assists and 5 aces. Jordyn Higgins had 2 kills. Remacle and Josie Peery each had 1 kill. Gehring had 1 assist. Prairie takes a 19-11 record into the state tournament. This is the first time in many years that Prairie has made 3 straight trips to state since the last few years in the Central Idaho League.
Angela Wemhoff and Leah Higgins against Wallace.  27-at Lewiston Tournament, won 1 match, lost 4. 27-JV at Genesee JV Tournament 30-Genesee*, there, C, JV, V, 5 p.m., lost 1 game to 3 7-JV at Sacajawea 9th, 5 p.m. postponed 8-Lapwai*, here, won 3 games to 1 10-JV and C teams at Grangeville JV Tournament 13-CV*, here, 4:30 p.m., won 3 games to 0 13-Orofino, here, 7 p.m., V only, lost 1 game to 3 15-Grangeville, there, C, JV, V, 5 p.m., lost 2 games to 3 20-Kamiah, there, C, JV, V, 5 p.m., won 3 games to 1 22-Genesee*, here, C, JV, V, 5 p.m., lost 1 game to 3 24-Border Battle at Pomeroy, won 4 of 5 matches 27-Lapwai*, there, won 3 games to 1 29-Troy*, here, C, JV, V, 5 p.m., lost 0 games to 3 8-Tri-Match vs. Potlatch* & CV* @ C.V., 1 p.m. V only, beat CV 3 games to 0; beat Potlatch 3 games to 1 10-JV at Sacajawea 9th, 5 p.m., rescheduled from Sept. 7 11-Grangeville, here, C, JV, V, 5 p.m., lost 2 games to 3, details next week 13-Potlatch*, there, C, JV, V, 4:30 p.m. 15, 17, 18,19-District at LCSC-beat Kamiah 3 games to 0, lost to Genesee 1 game to 3, beat Potlatch 3 games to 0, beat Lapwai 3 games to 1 , Third Place 20-Play-in vs. Wallace at Coeur d'Alene High School 5 p.m., won 3 games to 0 22-Play-in at Highland vs. Idaho City, won 3 games to 0 28-29-State at Rigby *League Game |
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