They made a strong bid Tuesday in Twin Falls, but Wood River High School volleyball players fell one match victory shy of earning a trip to the State 4A tourney for the first time since 2008.
Hailey’s second-seeded Wood River High spikers (16-17) defeated the Minico Spartans in a five-game thriller Tuesday night before exiting the league tourney with a four-game loss to Jerome.
Sophomore Lily Richards had a strong night at the net for the Wolverines, but third-seeded Jerome captured its second four-game win of the tournament over Wood River to earn the Great Basin Conference’s second ticket to state.
Regular-season champion Twin Falls (36-5) swept Jerome 25-14, 25-14, 25-22 in Tuesday’s GBC tournament championship. Twin Falls and Jerome will represent the league in the eight-team State 4A tournament Oct. 29-30 at Kimberly.
Meanwhile, Wood River fans had to settle for the excitement of their team’s win over Minico as a lasting memory of the six-team league tournament.
Wood River, twice a loser to Minico in the last week before the GBC meet, prevailed over the Spartans 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 17-25, 15-11. Richards (11 kills, 3 digs, 2 assists) and senior Jade Glenn (10 kills, 3 assists, 2 blocks) led the way.
It was the first time all season that Wood River (7-6 in league matches) went the full five games in a single match. All of the Wolverines league matches prior to the tournament were settled in the three-game minimum.
Against Minico, the first game was tied 22-22 before soph Kori Paradis (7 kills, 3 blocks, 14 serves) blocked for a point and hammered a winner for yet another. Lily Richards finished the 25-23 victory with a kill for Wood River (41 kills).
The third game was close again, Hailey leading 22-21 before Richards delivered a kill and Glenn killed and blocked to finish the 25-22 victory.
Strong serving is vital in the winner-take-all 15-point fifth game. Miranda Gasenica (30 serves, 4 aces, 2 digs) got Hailey off the mark by serving four straight winners for a 6-3 lead. Minico battled back to 9-9 and Richards got a side-out with a kill.
That’s when Paradis dished out four consecutive winners from the stripe for a 13-9 lead. Kills by Glenn and fellow senior Jessica Hamilton (21 assists, 6 kills, 2 digs, 16 serves, 2 aces) ended the match at 15-11.
Other contributors against Minico were Allie Hesteness (5 kills, 4 digs, 16 serves) and Ali Levy (9 digs).
Later Tuesday, Jerome ousted Wood River 25-12, 25-17, 18-25, 25-17. Point-getters were Richards (7 kills, 3 blocks), Hamilton (10 assists, 2 aces) and Hesteness (3 kills, 3 digs).
Wood River High School senior Jade Glenn was a powerful player at the net for the Wolverines this fall. Photo by David N. Seelig
