It turned out the way an early-season triangular meet should be—all three prep volleyball teams earning a measure of success as the 2010 season opened in Hailey Tuesday.
Wood River defeated the Buhl Tribe 25-19, 17-25, 15-10 and then Buhl and Filer went down to the wire in the best two-of-three, Buhl eventually winning 10-15, 25-23, 28-26.
That put the Wolverines up against the Filer varsity in the final match of the evening and things started out well for Wood River. But Filer rallied for a 16-25, 25-21, 15-12 triumph.
A State 3A tournament qualifier from 2009, Filer got back into the Wood River match with strong defense and passing. It wasn't surprising, since Wildcat teams coached by Ed Richards are always in the thick of things, including State 2A titles in 1993 and 1997.
Senior 5-8 outside hitter Mackenzie Jasper led the Wildcats, who trailed 11-8 in the third and final game but scored seven of the final eight points.
Wood River leaders included senior Jade Glenn (6 kills, 3 blocks), sophomore Lily Richards (5 kills), senior Jessica Hamilton (12 assists), senior Allie Hesteness (6 digs) and senior Ali Levy (3 digs, 2 kills, the final 4 serves in Game One).
Against Buhl, top players included Richards (7 kills, 2 digs), Glenn (4 kills), Hamilton (4 assists) and sophomore Kori Paradis (3 serving aces and the last 6 points of Game Three).
Wood River (1-1, 0-0 league) travels to the 24-team Peg Peterson Invitational varsity tournament today and Saturday, Sept. 4 at Highland High School in Pocatello.
The Wolverines are grouped in a pool of four teams with Sugar-Salem of Sugar City, Bear Lake of Montpelier and American Falls. The first round begins today at 9 a.m. Based on the results of pool play, teams will be put in the 16-team championship bracket (matches at Highland start Saturday at 9 a.m.) or the 8-team consolation group (at Century).
