Clark Fork overcomes slow start to defeat Timberlake

Another day, another win for Clark Fork as the Wampus Cats defeated Timberlake in four sets on the road, 27-25, 25-12, 19-25, 25-18.

While the Wampus Cats started the game slow with Timberlake taking a 12-2 lead, Clark Fork coach Michelle Valliere said the team didn't fold.

"They just kind of picked it up and started playing their game," she said. "Timberlake had some pretty good hits right at the beginning of the night and kind of got a jump on us but we came back and just started playing our game and played really good defense."

That helped Clark Fork grab momentum and pull out the win in the first set. While Clark Fork's hard hitting allowed them to claim the second set as well, the Tigers grabbed the momentum in the third set after a series of missed serves by the Wampus Cats.

"We were right there with them for the most part in that third set, but they just got too far ahead, and we weren't getting our serves," Valliere said.

While the fourth set started slow, Valliere said Clark Fork regained the momentum to claim the win.

Valliere said she was impressed by her team's ability to focus after the slow start to pull out a win in the first set.

"I was super happy that they didn't really let that affect them that much," she added. "That's one thing I feel like with our team this year, is they're we've battled back quite a bit. We might be down, you know, eight, nine, 10 points but we battle back and we ended up winning that set."

The Wampus Cats' ability to battle back where other teams might falter is excited and should serve Clark Fork well at districts and in a potential state run.

"We don't let that get in our head," Valliere said. "We know that we can battle back and play with them."

Lilly Reuter led the Wampus Cats with 15 digs, followed closely by Paige Valliere with 13. Amari Printz-Hay had five blocks and Valliere had 23 assists. In addition, Eloise Shelton and Valliere had three aces, with Shelton adding nine kills for Clark Fork.