Judging by last week's results, Wood River High School varsity volleyball players are going to give co-coaches Gary Carr and Tim Richards a few gray hairs before the 2005 prep volleyball season winds up.
The Wolverines have faced their share of deficits this season but have been pretty good at regrouping as well.
Last Thursday, for instance, Wood River took a little while finding its focus in an important Great Basin Conference West road match against the defending league tournament champions Minico Spartans.
It turned into a thriller.
Wood River (15-10 overall, 2-1 league) rallied for a 25-10, 23-25, 14-25, 25-23, 15-13 league victory over Minico (1-7, 1-2 before Tuesday's league match at Burley). To win and avenge its home loss in last year's tournament championship, Wood River had to score the last four points of the fifth game.
Coach Richards said, "It could have gone either way and we were fortunate to win it. We talked about never giving up and that helped. But we're going to have to learn how to get out of the bus a little better and keep our focus—and not playing down to our competition."
Kelsey Lidstrom served the final two points for Wood River at Rupert—keeping the Wolverines in the chase for another regular-season league championship. Tuesday, Wood River played a huge match at Jerome (8-4, 3-0 league), trying to avenge a very close five-game home loss Sept. 6 in Hailey.
Richards said before Tuesday's match at Jerome, "We're playing them for homecourt advantage in the tournament and we hope to beat them in either three or four games to achieve that in a tiebreaker."
Wood River hosts Minico Oct. 6 and goes to Burley Oct. 11 for its final two home matches.
Consolation champions
Defending State 5A champion Idaho Falls (22-0) stayed unbeaten in 2005 by winning the 12-team Bonneville Classic Saturday by 25-18, 25-16 scores over Skyline of Idaho Falls. It was a first-time victory in the tournament by Idaho Falls.
In the consolation bracket, the winning team was Wood River by 25-12, 25-21 and 25-22, 25-19 scores over last year's State 3A fourth-place finisher Bear Lake of Montpelier. Once again, the Wolverines had to come from behind after losing in three games to Bear Lake.
Richards said, "We were real proud of the girls. We played from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, non-stop, and had to beat Bear Lake four times in a row to win the consolation championship. Our seniors were very consistent in the Minico match. By Saturday, everybody was playing well together."
In Friday's round robin, Wood River lost all three of its matches. Hillcrest won 25-17, 25-21 and Preston went down to the wire before beating the Wolverines 26-24, 21-25, 15-13. Eventual tournament runner-up Skyline (29-5) also handled the Hailey girls 25-23, 25-15.
Saturday, Wood River opened with a 25-8, 25-21 win over perennial 4A power Sandpoint. Bear Lake nipped Wood River 21-25, 25-22, 15-13, then the Wolverines stayed alive 25-20, 25-22 over Cokeville (Wyo.).
Then came the back-to-back wins over Bear Lake and a sweet bus ride home to Hailey.
