Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Threepeat for Idaho Falls, Cutthroats win in five

Idaho Falls captures Wood River tournament


Wood River sophomore Kori Paradis puts the hammer down on a kill during a Wolverine home match earlier this fall. Photo by David N. Seelig

One of the Gem State's best volleyball programs, the Idaho Falls Tigers hoisted high the Wood River Invitational first-place tournament trophy for the third consecutive year Saturday night at the Hailey gym.

Idaho Falls (20-3) went 6-1 during the two-day, 12-team 30th annual tournament and beat Twin Falls 25-16, 25-19 in the championship match. In third place was Bishop Kelly of Boise over 2006-07 tournament champion Boise High School.

The Wood River Wolverines (4-2 tourney) tied for fifth place with last year's State 5A third-place team Borah of Boise.

Idaho Falls coach Wendy Johnson called her team's performance the most consistent of the season Saturday—including straight set wins over Kimberly, Borah, Twin Falls and Twin Falls again in the finale. Only Bishop Kelly (winner by 3 games in Friday's pool play) dented the Tiger armor.

Making the All-Tournament team: Most Valuable Player Hayley Farrer of Idaho Falls (124 assists) and teammate Kathy Collette (42 kills), Cheltzie Williams and Allie Johnson of Twin Falls, Rebecca Sweeney of Bishop Kelly, Hannah Schleiss of Borah and Christine Asher, Boise.

Coach Tim Richards' Wood River Wolverines enjoyed a good day Friday, winning its four-team pool with victories over Payette (25-14, 25-17), Kimberly (25-10, 13-25, 15-12) and Borah (25-23, 15-25, 15-9).

Senior Jade Glenn (4 kills, 3 blocks) along with senior Jessica Hamilton (3 kills, 8 assists) and senior Allie Hesteness (2 aces, 13 serves) led Wood River against Payette. In the Kimberly match, Glenn (8 kills) and Hesteness (5 digs, 3 kills, 2 aces, 13 serves) stepped up, as did Hamilton (13 assists) and senior Hunter Thompson (3 kills).

The talented Wolverine sophomores came to play against Borah led by Kori Paradis (5 kills, 2 blocks, 2 aces, 10 serves) and Lily Richards (5 kills, 13 serves). Senior Ali Levy (3 kills), Alison Gasenica (4 assists) and Hesteness (11 serves) contributed to the win.

Wood River started well Saturday with a 25-16, 17-25, 15-5 victory over Mountain Home in the championship bracket.

Saturday's leaders included Lily Richards (6 kills, 9 serves), Glenn (4 kills, 3 blocks), Hamilton (9 serves, 9 assists), Sydney Tidwell (3 blocks), Paradis (3 blocks, 9 serves), Miranda Gasenica (9 serves) and Hesteness (9 serves).

Twin Falls sent Wood River to the loser bracket of the double elimination meet 25-20, 25-15, and Bishop Kelly eliminated the Wolverines 25-14, 25-16. Twin Falls ousted Bishop Kelly to advance into the championship opposite Idaho Falls.

Wood River (9-8, 2-1 league) visited Great Basin Conference league opponent Jerome Tuesday night and hosts Minico of Rupert Thursday, Sept. 23 starting with the 4:30 p.m. freshman match in Hailey.

Big rally lifts Cutthroat spikers over Red Devils

By JASON LYNCH

Express Correspondent

The Community School's volleyball team snapped a four-match losing streak Monday night with an improbable five-game win over Murtaugh at The Fish Tank in Sun Valley.

After losing the first two games of the Northside Conference best three-of-five match, the Cutthroats discovered their form and prevailed 19-25, 26-28, 25-19, 25-21, 15-9. They improved their season record to 2-7 overall (2-3 at home, 2-6 in league).

On an evening when their big guns were misfiring, the Cutthroats quickly fell behind by two games. It was a businesslike performance from Murtaugh (1-7) and it seemed like the Red Devils would complete a season sweep of the Cutthroats after their 25-8, 25-15, 25-15 home win Aug. 25.

But the second game saw a feistier Cutthroat team. Although they fell 28-26 to drop two games behind, the home team showed signs of life. In particular, juniors Morgan Jones and Meredith Pintler played key roles for the home team with good passing (Jones) and neat net play (Pintler).

Cutthroat coach Kristyn Price Rutland must have said the right things during the game break because her team showed new resolve from the third game onward, just as Murtaugh started to fade.

The Red Devils raced out to a 8-3 lead to start Game Three, but that was as close as they got to victory on a night when the Cutthroats simply refused to lose. Pintler (5 kills) and Morgan Roudabush led the way in Game Three, Roudabush's serve bringing 10 points to the home side's 25-19 win.

Murtaugh had now lost its early momentum, with unforced errors being the main culprit. Three times they earned crucial side-outs in the third game only to give the ball right back with serving errors.

Cutthroat stalwart Julie Doan struggled early on but found her steady passing in Game Four and really came to life in the deciding fifth.

With her team trailing 6-1 in the 15-point fifth game, Doan reeled off six straight points on serve to give her team a 7-6 lead and force a Murtaugh time out. A resounding block by Sofia Carkonen ended a spectacular point at 10-8 and gave the home team a three-point cushion.

A few side-outs later, Natalie Goddard capped a quiet match by serving out the game and giving the Cutthroats another hard fought victory.

Rutland's squad traveled to Carey (1-8, 1-6) Tuesday night in a rematch of the thrilling five-game Cutthroat home win over the Panthers Aug. 31. The Cutthroats host Richfield Thursday, Sept. 23 for a 5 p.m. Northside Conference match.




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