Lady Vikings stand up to tough schedule

CHARLO - It was three matches in three days, but Charlo

weathered the marathon and defeated district foe Hot Springs in a

three-game sweep and then downed Class B Mission on Saturday night

in a match that was very fitting of a heated Mission Valley

rivalry.

CHARLO - It was three matches in three days, but Charlo weathered the marathon and defeated district foe Hot Springs in a three-game sweep and then downed Class B Mission on Saturday night in a match that was very fitting of a heated Mission Valley rivalry.

"I'm happy because three games in a row is tough to do," Charlo head coach Sheryl Kain said. "It's good for us because when you reach the tournaments, you don't have time to practice and prepare."

On Thursday, the Lady Vikings had plenty going on off the court with senior night and the Breast Cancer Awareness bake sale, but focused in for a 3-0 victory over Hot Springs. It was junior Rachel Hoyt bringing the heavy machinery with nine kills, six digs and two blocks. She also ended all three games with a game point.

After winning the first game handily, 25-14, the Lady Vikings looked down and out against Hot Springs in the second game, trailing 20-14.

Charlo went on an 11-3 run and pulled off an incredible comeback for a 25-23 game win to go up 2-0 in the match.

"To see the kids to come back from behind, that was good to see," Kain said.

In the third game, the Lady Vikings went up 16-5 to start things but Hot Springs was able to pull to 21-17. Charlo then scored the final four points for the victory. Hoyt had the match point to put an exclamation mark on things.

Senior Dawn Blevins was a do-all for the Lady Vikings, getting 11 digs and 16 assists while Kelsie Blevins had 11 digs and seven service aces.

On Friday, Charlo traveled to Thompson Falls to face a tough Lady Bluehawks team and fell 3-1 in four games. Thompson Falls won the first game 25-11 but Charlo came back to take the second 25-23.

"In our minds, it's not Class B or Class C, it's a good team and it's a game," Kain said. "They're a very good hitting team and winning that second game was really cool because the Bluehawks were really hitting well."

Then both teams battled to extra points in the third game, with the Lady Bluehawks coming back from a deficit and taking it 27-25.

"That was a game we definitely should have won," Kain said. "We were ahead and we didn't shut them down."

They finished things off with a 25-13 victory in the fourth game for the match win.

Senior Kinley Pope was solid in the match with all of Charlo's 22 digs, while Deondra Brown was again a force on offense, collecting 15 kills. Dawn Blevins had 11 assists. Brown would have another strong game on Saturday, and the Lady Vikings defeated their valley rivals Mission 3-1. Both teams earned around 100 digs and long volleys were common.

Brown had an eye-popping 19 kills and Charlo came back from a first game loss to win the match.

Mission played strong on their home court and they won game one by a score of 25-17. However, Charlo was able to seize the momentum in the next three games.

In the second game, Mission took an early 6-2 lead but Charlo came back to tie it at 10-10 and then went on a 9-0 run to seal the game.

They would end up winning it 25-19. In the third game, both teams battled to an 8-8 tie before the Lady Vikings went on an 11-3 run for a commanding 19-11 lead. The Lady Vikings won 25-18.

Kain was happy with the way her team held leads in the Mission game.

"Mentally I think it's really important," she said. "They need to know they can do that."

Charlo improved its record to 12-2 on the season.