Boise High School senior 5-6 outside hitter Nikki Shumway isn't the tallest Brave volleyball player but she's the leader of coach Kelly Fossceco's squad that finished fourth in last year's State 5A tournament.
Shumway certainly stood out Saturday on the final day of the 27th annual, 10-team Wood River Invitational prep volleyball tournament on the high school hardwoods in Hailey.
The granddaughter of retired Blaine County superintendent of schools Philip T. Homer and his wife Bernice of Hailey was selected as the Most Outstanding Player for leading Boise to its second straight Wood River tournament title.
Boise, dealing with injury woes, went 2-2 for its matches in Pool A and settled for third place going into Saturday's championship bracket. But Boise whipped Pool B runner-up Hillcrest of Idaho Falls 25-20, 25-20 and upset Pool A winner Centennial of Boise 25-18, 25-19.
That put Boise up against Century of Pocatello in an exciting title match—and Boise won 27-25, 20-25, 15-11. Shumway delivered two important kills and Boise senior Ally Wewers served four straight winners at mid-game of the finale sparking the Braves.
Boise High had won last year's Wood River Invitational tourney over Mountain View.
Coach Tim Richards' Wood River Wolverines went 2-2 in matches in Pool B preliminary action. The Wolverines defeated Blackfoot 25-21, 25-16 and Mountain Home 25-18, 25-14. The home team lost to eventual runner-up Century in a close battle 25-23, 22-25, 15-11 and also fell to Hillcrest 25-23, 25-23.
The results put third-place Pool B Wood River up against second-place Pool A Rigby in the championship bracket opener. The Wolverines couldn't muster enough blocking to stop Rigby's power and Rigby rallied 19-25, 25-22, 15-4.
Senior OH Lundyn Decker (16 kills) sparked Rigby's hitters with powerful spikes and got help from senior middle blocker Nicole Warner (12 kills, 5 service winners) and senior OH Ashley Olaveson (8 kills).
Rigby's Decker had eight kills in the first game but Wood River's well-balanced attack prevailed 25-19. Senior Lauren Morgenthaler (8 kills match) had five kills and junior Angela Coleman added four kills. Senior co-captain Hannah Ward's early serving (4 straight winners) got Wood River out of a 5-2 hole and into the lead it never surrendered.
The second game was nip-and-tuck all the way, Rigby finally pulling away 25-22 when Olaveson and Warner pounded winners down the stretch. Ward (8 kills, 10 service winners match) delivered four kills and junior Kaylee Baker had five big serving winners including three aces.
In the decisive third game, Decker was intimidating with her power stroke and Warner served four straight winners including three aces at mid-game en route to Rigby's 15-4 rout. Century then defeated Rigby 25-21, 25-19 in the semi-final match of the two-day meet.
Rounding out the All-Tournament team chosen by coaches were Decker and Warner of Rigby, junior libero Scottie Christie of Boise, seniors Cami Miller and Markki Otteson of Century, and senior Shea Wright of Centennial.
Results, Pool A: 1—Centennial 4-0 matches, 8-1 games. 2—Rigby 3-1 matches, 6-3 games. 3—Boise 2-2 matches, 4-5 games. 4—Filer 1-3 matches, 3-5 games. 5—Idaho Falls 0-4 matches, 1-8 games.
Pool B: 1—Century 4-0 matches, 8-1 games. 2—Hillcrest 3-1 matches, 6-2 games. 3—Wood River 2-2 matches, 5-4 games. 4—Blackfoot 1-3 matches, 2-6 games. 5—Mountain Home 0-4 matches, 0-8 games.
Championship bracket, first round: Filer over Mountain Home and Blackfoot over Idaho Falls. Quarterfinals: Rigby over Wood River, Century over Filer, Boise over Hillcrest, Centennial over Blackfoot.
Semi-finals: Century over Rigby 25-21, 25-19 and Boise over Centennial 25-18, 25-19. Final: Boise over Century 27-25, 20-25, 15-11.
Big week of league games
Reigning Great Basin Conference West champion Wood River has embarked on an important week of league games before its next weekend tournament, the Borah Invitational Oct. 5-6 down in Boise.
Wood River (6-4 overall, 1-0 league) hosted Burley (4-4, 2-0 league) Tuesday night in a rematch of last year's Great Basin championship match. Burley has beaten Jerome and Minico in four games in league action and came to Hailey after winning last weekend's Jerome Invitational over Raft River.
Richards said about the league matches with Burley and Minico, "They don't have the same level of hitting as we saw in our tournament but they play good defense."
Wood River travels to Minico (0-1 league) Thursday and goes to Jerome (0-2 league) next Tuesday. Wood River visits Burley Oct. 9 in the final regular-season league match that could determine the top seed for the tournament.
Wood River senior co-captains Hannah Gove (digging the ball, at left) and Hannah Ward (right) defend an attack during Wood River Invitational tournament action Friday at the Hailey gym. Photo by Willy Cook
