Wood River volleyball struggled in a loss to Great Basin rival Jerome but rebounded with a win over Filer in a tri-match at Jerome Tuesday night.
The Wolverines lost 16-25, 25-18, 17-25, 24-26 to the Tigers, who remained unbeaten in Great Basin West play at 4-0 (10-4 overall). Wood River rolled over Filer 2-1 to improve to 16-11 overall (2-2 conference).
"It was a real ugly first game and then we came back and pounded them the second game," coach Gary Carr said. "It was up and down the rest of the way—kind of the way our season has been."
Carr said seniors Hannah Richards and Jamie Stone both played strong as usual.
"They always show up, they're always in the mix," Carr said, adding that sophomore Lauren Morgenthaler "stepped it up a little bit," and had a "pretty good match against Filer."
The Wolverines have now lost to Jerome twice this season, giving the Tigers the psychological edge with the district championships just two weeks away. But Carr said he's not too worried and is confident the Wolverines can beat Jerome if they show up to play.
"When the right (girls) show up, not too many teams can beat us," he said. "But when it doesn't click, it's not very pretty."
Against Wood River, the Tigers' Ali German and Megan Parish were forces at the net, combining for 30 kills. Parish added 10 blocks to her 14 kills, and McKenzie Mangum scored 16 points.
Jerome later cruised past Filer in two straight games, 25-22 and 25-11.
The Wolverines played Minico Thursday night and travel to Boise for the Borah Invitational tonight and Saturday. Carr said the Wolverines will play seven or eight matches this weekend.
"This could be a good weekend just to get us more experience, get us ready for the end of the year and get everything together," Carr said. "We're just looking to become more steady and consistent as we go along. We just want to be on top when all is said and done.
"Nothing is won at this point, everything is won at the end of October and early November."
Wood River junior outside hitter Elissa Baker in action earlier this month. Photo by David N. Seelig
