The 2006 Boise Braves volleyball team has got something going, and they showed it by winning the 26th annual, 10-team Wood River Invitational volleyball tourney Saturday at the Hailey high school gym.
Boise, led by 6-5 senior middle Kelsie Clegg, won its pool and then knocked off Gooding and Centennial of Boise prior to its 25-20, 25-21 championship match victory over the Mountain View Mavericks Saturday.
One of the key players on the scrappy Braves squad coached by Kelly Fossceco is 5-5 junior outside hitter Nikki Shumway, granddaughter of former Blaine County superintendent of schools Phil Homer.
Third-ranked 5A school Boise has rolled through Capital, Caldwell, Timberline, Mountain View and Meridian this season, and Boise's only loss has been to last year's State 5A runner-up Eagle, still undefeated and ranked first in the state of Idaho.
Meanwhile, the talented Wood River Wolverines of coaches Tim Richards and Gary Carr enjoyed a productive home tournament last weekend before falling short in a 25-23, 25-22 loser-out setback to eventual second-place finisher Mountain View of Meridian.
Wood River, currently ranked fourth in the Idahosports.com poll of 4A schools, won its pool and stretched its winning streak to nine matches with victories over Blackfoot, Filer, Centennial and Weiser.
The Wolverines never lost a game in winning their four pool-play matches. Senior co-captain and outside hitter Elissa Baker had 8 kills in 14 attempts in Wood River's 25-21, 26-24 debut win over Blackfoot.
Juniors Hannah Ward (4 kills, 5 blocks) and Hannah Gove (4 kills, 6 blocks) led the way at the net in Hailey's 25-20, 25-19 success over Filer. Senior setter Leah McIlhenny served up 12 assists.
Baker (6 kills/15 attempts plus 13 winning serves) and senior co-captain Casey Vegwert (14 serves) were on fire in Wood River's 25-18, 25-22 win over Centennial. Gove (12 serves/3 aces) and Ward (4 kills/9 attempts) helped lift Hailey 25-14, 25-16 over Weiser.
Wood River actually built a 19-11 lead over Mountain View in its first tournament match, but the Mavericks rallied to win the first game 25-23 and captured the match 25-22 despite a strong serving effort by WR junior Currie Arnold (8 winners/3 aces).
Tournament Most Valuable Player was Rigby's 6-0 senior middle hitter Charlie Kinghorn. Wood River's 5-9 sophomore libero/OH Angela Coleman was one of six players on the All-Tournament team.
The others were Clegg and 5-3 sophomore libero Scottie Christie of Boise; Hillcrest's 5-3 junior libero Kaylee Potter; Centennial's 5-10 junior OH Shea Wright; and Mountain View's 5-11 junior Hailey Curtis.
Wood River (10-6, 1-0 league) had a big Great Basin Conference West match at Burley (4-5, 1-1) Tuesday. The Wolverines entertain the Minico Spartans (0-7, 0-1) for a Homecoming league match Thursday, Sept. 21 starting at 5 p.m. with the freshman match in Hailey.
Here are statistics from Wood River's tournament matches last weekend on the Hailey hardwoods:
Mountain View 25-23, 25-22 over WR (second-round tournament play): Attacks/kills—Elissa Baker 9/2; Hannah Ward 9/2; Kelsey Lidstrom 6/2; Lauren Morgenthaler 5/2. Blocks—Ward 6, Gove 4, Lidstrom 4, Morgenthaler 4. Assists—Leah McIlhenny 9. Winning serves—Gove 11, Currie Arnold 8 (3 aces), Casey Vegwert 7.
Other matches, pool play:
WR 25-21, 26-24 over Blackfoot: Attacks/kills—Baker 14/8; Gove 10/3; Morgenthaler 7/4. Blocks—Morgenthaler 8, Ward 7. Assists—McIlhenny 10. Winning serves—Gove 10 (2 aces), Lidstrom 9, McIlhenny 9, Vegwert 8, Ward 8. Digs—Angela Coleman 3, Baker 2, McIlhenny 2.
WR 25-20, 25-19 over Filer: Attacks/kills—Gove 11/4; Ward 11/4; McIlhenny 10/3; Lidstrom 5/3. Blocks—Lidstrom 7, Gove 6. Assists—McIlhenny 12. Winning serves—Baker 11 (2 aces), Vegwert 9, Ward 9.
WR 25-18, 25-22 over Centennial: Attacks/kills—Baker 15/6; Gove 10/4; Lidstrom 7/4; Ward 4/3. Blocks—Lidstrom 8, Morgenthaler 6. Assists—McIlhenny 12, Vegwert 6. Winning serves—Vegwert 14, Baker 13.
WR 25-14, 25-16 over Weiser: Attacks/kills—Ward 9/4. Blocks—Morgenthaler 4. Assists—McIlhenny 8. Winning serves—Gove 12 (3 aces), Baker 8.
