Led by the hitting of sophomore Katelyn Peterson and the setting of senior Erica Phantharasen, the Camas County Mushers won their first state volleyball tournament championship Saturday in Lewiston.
Camas County (20-3) swept unbeaten through the eight-team State 1A Division 2 bracket including two huge wins over Northside Conference champion Dietrich (23-6).
It was never easy at state for the Mushers, coached for the second year by Ben Stroud. Camas won all four of its best three-of-five matches, but went at least four games in each match. Plus, the Mushers had to rally twice against Dietrich.
Entering as the #3 seed out of the strong Fourth District that boasts nine small school state championships since 1981, Camas opened the two-day tournament by beating defending state champion Garden Valley 25-20, 15-25, 26-16, 26-24. In the next match, Camas County went against Dietrich—still smarting from a four-game loss to the Blue Devils in the Northside tournament. This time, playing with its quarterback Phantharasen, Camas County rallied for a 19-25, 18-25, 25-14, 25-19, 15-12 victory.
Camas in the winner bracket semi-finals defeated Clark Fork 25-17, 25-21, 24-26, 25-10 and waited around for its championship match foe. That turned out to be Dietrich, a 25-22, 18-25, 25-22, 25-23 winner over Clark Fork in the semi-finals of the double elimination meet.
But Dietrich, in its sixth match, didn't have the endurance to stay with the Musher horses, and Camas County prevailed 23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-15.
Along with assistant coach Shelli Schroeder, the Musher team also consisted of seniors Darian Cantu, Danielle Knowlton, Megan Stampke and Sunnie Vouch; sophomore Jamie Wise; and freshmen Brittani Hulme, Stephanie Moore, Sierra Sabin and Miranda Smith.
Camas coach Stroud has plenty of championship experience. He won 11 national junior college titles in 22 years coaching at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls. Stroud was the national JC "Coach of the Year" in 1997 after his 61-1 CSI team captured the school's fifth consecutive national title.
The Carey Panthers (17-10) won one of its three matches at Lewiston. Carey dropped its opener to Clark Fork 25-22, 24-26, 25-16, 25-20 and then beat Nezperce to stay alive. Dietrich ousted Carey 25-18, 26-24, 25-13.
In other state results:
The Bonneville Bees from Idaho Falls (37-3) defeated Century of Pocatello (44-8) 25-16, 25-18, 25-20 for their second State 4A title in three years, and seventh overall. In third place was 2008 champion Sandpoint (24-6);
Eagle (34-4) needed two matches to beat Rocky Mountain (24-7) for its fourth consecutive State 5A championship and fifth overall.
In 3A, St. Maries (25-3) beat Kimberly (27-4) in three games for the northern Idaho school's first state title since a 10-year winning string from 1984-93; and Nampa Christian (20-2) captured its seventh State 2A title over defending champion Parma. The 1A Division 2 winner was Genesee (30-5).
The return of injured senior setter and team quarterback Erica Phantharasen (#3), setting for freshman Stephanie Moore earlier this season at Carey, helped the Camas County Mushers to their first state volleyball title Saturday. Photo by David N. Seelig
