Bulldog netters to battle biggies

Colfax volleyball team departs today for Colbert to play the first of two matches booked against NE foes during homecoming week.

The Bulldogs, who are undefeated in league play, will have their official homecoming match in front of the home crowd Saturday when they host St. George's with the jayvee match starting at 11 a.m. The Bulldogs will have five more NE matches after facing the Dragons.

Friday and Saturday, Colfax again ventured north to play in the Sheridan Crossover tournament in Spokane. They lost to one of three foes in their opening pool action at Shadle Park. That put them in the bracket for second-place, which included an entry of 16 teams on the court at Rogers High School.

They were spoiled in the number-two run by a revenge-minded Mt. Spokane team and finished with a one-game playoff. Colfax finished seventh.

“Overall, I guess that would place us 23rd in the tournament,” coach Sue Doering noted. She said Colfax again marked up some competitive rounds with big school teams, some who were unaware that Colfax was playing out of the WIAA 2B division.

Doering said the long haul of the crossover tournament seemed a little easier this year, possibly because of the introduction of the Friday night start.

Colfax started Friday night at Shadle Park, where they downed the Post Falls Trojans in a three-game tangle. The Bulldogs pulled it out with a 15-10 in the decider round after splitting 25-13 and 21-25 with the Idaho border club.

A pivotal part of the Colfax run came Friday when they returned to Shadle and ran into Lincoln of Seattle in the second round of pool play. Lincoln downed the Bulldogs 25-14 and 25-13.

That advanced the Seattle team to the top bracket of the crossover where West Valley of Yakima eventually took the Sheridan title.

Colfax downed Bear Creek 25-14 and 25-13 in the last round of pool play.

After the trip across north Spokane, Colfax started action in the bracket for number-two qualifiers at Rogers with a win over Chiawana of Pasco. Colfax beat the 4A school 25-22 and 25-21.

They then advanced to a clash with Mt. Spokane, the GSL league team they defeated on the home boards in a long battle in their second full match of the season.

Colfax and the Wildcats split the two-game segment, 25-22 and 21-25, but the `cats prevailed 15-11 in the decider round.

That put Colfax up against Columbia River in one-game match to decide seventh and ninth in the day's final test. Colfax took it 25-19.

Tournament statistics: Ashtyn Aune 29-23 serving with 4 aces; 51 assists, 21 digs, 3 kills; Katelyn Scholz 36-44 serving with 7 kills, 24 digs, 40 assists; Morgan Lord 49-53 with 1 ace; Abbie Miller 29-33 with 2 aces, 16 digs, 7 kills, 2 blocks; Carmen Gfeller 45-52 with 17 aces, 35 kills, 11 blocks, 5 digs; Olivia Mellor 26-28 with 5 aces, 27 kills, 31 digs, 7 blocks; Scout Cai 11 kills, 2 blocks, 15 digs; Sidney Sheer 10-10 serving, 2 kills, 3 digs; Kylie Gronning 3-5 serving, 5 digs; Kylie Kackman, 2-3 serving with 5 assists, 2 kills, 1 block; Piper Cai 4 kills.