COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – The No. 24 Lewis-Clark State volleyball team gallantly fought back from an early deficit Tuesday night in a road exhibition match against undefeated North Idaho, but ultimately fell in three sets.

Although North Idaho is a junior college program, the Cardinals entered the scrimmage with plenty of credentials.

The Cardinals are 12-0 and are the No. 2 junior college team in the nation, according to the National Junior College Athletic Association. They have already beaten Frontier Conference teams like Carroll (ranked 25th in the NAIA) and Eastern Oregon in exhibitions this fall.

North Idaho won 25-17 in the first set, and nipped the Warriors 25-23 in the second and third sets.

“They’re a very good team. They’re strong blockers and aggressive, but it’s difficult to compete against anyone when you give them as many points as we did,” Lewis-Clark State coach LaToya Harris said. “We committed 45 errors, whether it was hitting, serving or serve receive. I was pleased with how we competed. We fought and fought and fought, pushing to win. We hadn’t seen that type of play in any of our matches, so that was nice to see.”

Harris praised libero Kaylee Rector and defensive specialist Chelsea Shears for their play on the defensive end in the match, and the Warriors welcomed back sophomore Brianna Kelly from injury.

“We dug well and chased down a lot of balls,” Harris said. “We had long rallies with them, dug some some hard-hit balls and made great hustle plays but putting them away was the tough part for us.”

Harris said that the Warriors held a lead in the second set, but the miscues on the offensive end prevented LCSC from evening the match.