Boasting seven seniors and plenty of returning talent, the Wood River High School varsity volleyball team will be looking for a return to the State 4A tournament in 2014.
State volleyball used to be a frequent stop on Wood River’s radar, but the competition has intensified in the last six years and the Wolverines have made it to state only twice since 2008.
Wood River debuts its season today, Friday with a tri-match at Buhl against the host Tribe and the always-tough Filer Wildcats. Both Buhl and Filer qualified for last fall’s State 3A tournament in Coeur d’Alene.
First home matches are Tuesday, Sept. 16 against Jerome.
Thirteenth-year Hailey coach Tim Richards has welcomed 37 players to varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams.
The varsity is seeking the school’s 24th state tournament trip, and is also looking for Wood River’s first 20-win season since 2008. Before that, the Wolverines had nine consecutive 20-win seasons through 2008 and won the conference championship three times from 2006-08.
The next year, the Twin Falls Bruins entered the league—and the Bruins have now won five straight Great Basin volleyball titles. They breezed in straight sets over Minico, Wood River and Canyon Ridge of Twin Falls last October.
Wood River and Canyon Ridge, both young in 2013, should provide challenges to favored Twin Falls. Canyon Ridge earned its first-ever state tournament berth last year—winning three of its four very competitive meetings with the Wolverines.
Richards said about his new squad, “This year we will be short and athletic, like we were last year, so we will have to play good defense and keep the ball in play.
“We have a nice group of seniors and sophomores and we will start at least two or three of those sophomores. Our serving will be good, and in practice this week we are working to improve our offensive skills.”
The core of the varsity should be returning players like Great Basin Conference All-League first-teamer Ciceley Peavey and honorable mention Brittney Bradley.
Versatile senior Haley Cutler returns to provide a winning outlook whenever she’s on the court. Senior Ashley Hicks and talented sophomores Blair Radford and Michelle Mason, all very athletic, will chalk up another year of varsity experience.
New players include Liz Forsling and Giselle Andrade.
Richards said, “We had a nice move-in from Florida, a left-handed right-side junior named Liz Forsling, who has a lot of good skills and will play a lot for us. And 6-2 senior Giselle Andrade, who has never played volleyball, will be our 12th player and is improving daily. She could be a force in a couple of months as she continues to learn the game.”
The Hailey varsity opens its tournament season Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5-6 at the Peg Peterson Invitational at Pocatello’s Highland High and Pocatello High schools.
The Great Basin gets 2.5 berths instead of two slots for this year’s State 4A meet Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Kimberly High School.
That means the top two tournament finishers automatically advance to the eight-school state tournament, and the third-place GBC team has a chance to qualify in a state play-in match against the Boise-area third-place team.
Rosters for the Wolverines:
WOOD RIVER HIGH
Varsity
Head coach—Tim Richards (13th year, 238-201). Assistant coach—Kim Richards.
Seniors (7)—Brittney Bradley, Haley Cutler, Ciceley Peavey, Ashley Hicks, Megan Lube, Emma Poe and Giselle Andrade.
Juniors (1)—Liz Forsling.
Sophomores (4)—Blair Radford, Michelle Mason, Tess Hollister and McKenzie Garrison.
Junior varsity
Head coach—Gary Carr.
Juniors (3)—Janelle Meyers, Delaney Brassil and Zoe Gibson.
Sophomores (9)—Kali Castle, Adelle Martin, McKinna Arial, Sarah Rau, McKenzie Shardlow, Lily Ward, Ciara Hulet, Sierra Harkins and Izzy Romero.
Freshmen (2)—Harlee Manning and Sidney Chambers.
Freshmen
Head coach—Sarah Allen.
Players (11)—Maddie Ruhter, Stella Barsotti, Maya Hollister, Katie Lambert, McKenzie Brown, Bekah Price, Erica Krezkowski, Cierra Castle, Grace Evans, Bella Jurovich and Jessie Thomas.
HEADLINE:2014 WRHS Volleyball
A total 12 regular-season matches for the 2014 Wolverine varsity, 5 home and 7 away, plus 3 regular-season varsity tournaments. All home matches at Wood River High School gym, Hailey. General admission $5. Wood River's home varsity matches are in bold. District 4 matches are marked with an asterisk (*). Also scheduled are the WRHS junior varsity (12 matches plus 2 tournaments) and freshman team (12 matches plus 1 tournament).
Varsity, junior varsity, freshmen
DATE, DAY................................ OPPONENT................................ LOCATION
Aug. 29, Friday Buhl-Filer Tri-Match (9th/JV) Buhl, 4:00/5:00
Aug. 29, Friday Buhl-Filer Tri-Match (V) Buhl, 6:00/7:00
Sept. 5, Friday Peg Peterson Invitational (V) Pocatello, 3:00
Sept. 6, Saturday Peg Peterson Invitational (V) Pocatello, 8:00
Sept. 9, Tuesday Twin Falls* (9th/JV/V) Away, 6/7:30
Sept. 11, Thursday Canyon Ridge* (9th/JV/V) Twin Falls, 6/7:30
Sept. 13, Saturday.... WR JV Tournament (JV)................ Hailey, 8:30
Sept. 16, Tuesday Jerome* (9th/JV/V) Home, 6/7:30
Sept. 18, Thursday Burley* (9th/JV/V) Away, 6/7:30
Sept. 23, Tuesday Minico* (9th/JV/V) Home, 6/7:30
Sept. 26, Friday Bonneville Classic (V) Idaho Falls, 5:00
Sept. 27, Saturday Bonneville Classic (V) Idaho Falls, 8:00
Sept. 27, Saturday................... Buhl JV Invitational (JV).......................... Buhl High, 8:30
Sept. 27, Saturday......... Filer 9th grade tournament (9th)................ Filer High, 8:30
Sept. 30, Tuesday Canyon Ridge* (9th/JV/V) Home, 6/7:30
Oct. 3, Friday................................... Borah Invitational (V)........... Borah High, Boise, 3:00
Oct. 4, Saturday............................ Borah Invitational (V).......... Borah High, Boise, 9:00
Oct. 7, Tuesday Jerome* (9th/JV/V) Away, 6/7:30
Oct. 9, Thursday Burley* (9th/JV/V) Home, 6/7:30
Oct. 14, Tuesday Twin Falls (Sr. Night)* (9th/JV/V) Home, 6/7:30
Oct. 16, Thursday Minico* (9th/JV/V) Rupert, 6/7:30
Oct. 20, Monday............... Great Basin 4th District tournament............ At No. 1 seed
Oct. 21, Tuesday................ Great Basin 4th District tournament............ At No. 1 seed
Oct. 23, Thursday............... District 4 tournament completion................ Higher seed
Oct. 25, Saturday.......................... State play-in (4C vs. 3C)....... Mtn. Home HS, 3 p.m.
Oct. 31, Friday..................................................... State 4A........................ Kimberly High School
Nov. 1, Saturday................................................ State 4A........................ Kimberly High School
NOTES—The Peg Peterson Invitational Sept. 5-6 is set for Highland High School, Pocatello….The Great Basin 4A District 4 gets 2.5 berths for the 8-school State 4A tournament Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Kimberly High
School. The GBC tournament champion and runner-up team automatically qualify for state, while the third-place team in the league tournament must win an Oct. 25 state play-in game at Mountain Home High School against the Boise-area third-place team to earn another state berth…….In opening-round state match-ups Oct. 31 at Kimberly, the Great Basin champion plays the 5th and 6th District 2nd-place team (Pocatello, Century of Pocatello, Preston, Blackfoot or Rigby) and the GBC runner-up meets the Boise-area 3rd District champion (Bishop Kelly, Caldwell, Middleton, Kuna, Mountain Home, Renaissance or Skyview)….The winner of the 3C-4C play-in opens state against the 5th and 6th District champion……The state tournament will again be run in a double elimination format.
