Arlee beats Charlo in Class C matchup

By Zach Urness and Karen Peterson

Leader Staff

CHARLO—There's a new rivalry in Lake County.

The Arlee Scarlets took the first round of a freshly minted Class C matchup against the Charlo Lady Vikings last week in a blossoming rivalry sure to provide some exciting moments.

The event brought a big crowd from Arlee to Charlo for the first duel, and they didn't go away disappointed as the Scarlets came away with the victory 25-20; 25-22; 21-25; 25-6.

"The crowd was into it. We haven't had a crowd at a game in awhile. It was great," BigSam said. "I was proud of the girls. The team is showing a lot of promise."

Super Sophomore Jordan Pfau was the most impressive athlete on the court, and had 11 of the 13 aces, 16 digs and three blocks for the Scarlets. Abbe Bridgewater provided power at the net, slamming down 11 kills.

"The girls impressed everybody," said Arlee head coach Brian BigSam. "They did a great job. There are only a few areas that we need to work on."

Megan Inmee provided the strength in the back row for the Scarlets.

"She really got the digs and she did well covering the back row," said BigSam, noting that Arlee's next game will be at Noxon today (Thursday, Sept. 6)

The Lady Vikings, meanwhile, are looking to get on track one year removed from a state tournament birth.

"We are making a lot of mental errors," said head coach Bonnie Perry of the Lady Vikings, who are now 1-2 on the season. "I don't think we have played anyone that is a head above us, however, we are making errors that simply shouldn't happen at this level of play. I think most of this comes from having such a young team with girls that haven't seen a lot of playing time at the varsity level."

Megan Herriman led the Lady Vikings at the net with two blocks, Staci Stipe had 13 of Charlo's 45 digs and Justine Morigeau had five assists. Stephanie Murphy and Sammijo Kain each had two aces and Kain also had four kills, leading the team.

"I think that in time we will be able to play a smooth game with minimal mental errors," commented Perry.

Charlo also dropped a five-set heartbreaker to Granite over the weekend, 25-14; 24-26; 25-17; 18-25; 9-15.

"This weekend against Granite our downfall was our serves," said Perry. "When you have 20-plus serving errors it is a little tough to win a game."

Megan Herriman had five aces, five kills and two blocks to lead the team. Sammijo Kain had four kills and four blocks and was followed by Staci Stipe and Jaris Kelley who each had 16 digs. Stephanie Maughan had nine assists and Justine Morigeau had four assists.

Charlo will be in action at home against Drummond tonight (Thursday, Sept. 6).

"We are working on things at practice throughout the week and each game I see improvement in at least one area," said Perry. "So we will keep our heads up and continue to iron out all of those 'wrinkles.'"