Lady Wolverines battle at 3A state volleyball tournament

Following an exciting SRV District volleyball tournament, where the Lady Wolverines worked their way around through the loser’s bracket to upset the Parma Panthers and earn the second place/runner-up position, the team made the trip to Coeur d’Alene to compete in the 3A state volleyball championships at Lake City High School.
Weiser vs. Filer
 The Lady Wolverines began their state tournament play against the Filer Wildcats. The Wolverines traded points with the Wildcats to the 5-6 point, but the Wildcats were able to go on a 4 point scoring run to take a 10-5 lead.  
 The Wolverines battled to come back from the deficit, but trailing 8-15 the Wildcats managed to finish out the first set outscoring the Wolverines 10-1 and taking the first set 25-9 from the Wolverines.
 The Lady Wolverines grabbed a slight 5-4 lead early in the second set and maintained the lead over the Wildcats to the 9-8 point, but the Wildcats added a trio of points to their tally and never relinquished their lead for the duration of the set.  
 Trailing 11-12, the Wolverines hit a major slump in momentum and allowed the Wildcats to go on a 10-point unanswered scoring run to take a 22-11 lead. Facing such a large deficit, the Wolverines struggled to mount any kind of comeback and dropped the second set 12-25.
 Facing a sweep, the Lady Wolverines battled in the third set to stay in the match, trading points to a 4-4 tie, but the Wildcats pulled ahead 8-5 by the fourth rotation. The Wolverines continued to work hard, staying within 2-points to the 12-14 mark, but they let down their guard and allowed the Wildcats to surge ahead with an 8 to 2 scoring run, leaving the Wolverines trailing 14-22.  
 Senior setter Ciana Fuller scored a trio of points and Grace Soulen and Jade Simonsen each added a point, but it was too late to prevent the 19-25 loss of the third set and the match 0-3.
Weiser vs. Snake River
 The initial tournament loss to the Filer Wildcats sent the Lady Wolverines into the consolation bracket and an opportunity to advance into “Trophy Saturday” with a win or elimination with a loss.  Their second pairing was against the Panthers from Snake River High School.
 The first set of the match was a fight with neither squad relinquishing their grip on the set to the 10-12 mark.  Fuller stepped behind the service line, serving for 3 points to take a 13-12 lead in the set.  The Wolverines continued to play strong and maintain their 2-point lead for the next three rotations.  
 Leading 18-16, the Panthers managed to go on an 8-0 scoring run, placing the Wolverines into an insurmountable 18-24 hole. The Wolverines were unable to bridge the scoring gap and lost the first set 20-25.
 The Lady Wolverines regrouped and jumped to an early lead in the second set and maintained their dominance throughout the set.  Leading 21-18, the Wolverines lost focus and the Panthers were able to capitalize on the situation, scoring seven consecutive points and taking the second set 25-21.
 The Lady Wolverines found themselves in a tenuous situation beginning what could potentially be the final set for their season if they couldn’t pull out a set win and prolong the match.  
 The Panthers jumped to an early lead in the third set. The Wolverines struggled to string more than 1 point together per side-out and soon found themselves nearing the end of the set and trailing 17-19.      
 Soulen began serving for the Wolverines and was able to tie the set at 20-20. The Wolverines remained level with the Panthers for another rotation, but setter, Ivy Morris completed the set by serving out the final 4-points to give the Wolverines the set win 25-22.
 Energized by the come-from-behind win, the Wolverines jumped to a commanding 12-5 lead in the fourth set.  Fuller began serving and added another 5-points to the Wolverines’ credit to expand the scoring gap to 17-7.  
 The set appeared to be easily in hand when the Wolverines led the Panthers 23-10, but the Panthers went on a scoring run of 7 points, pulling within 6 points to 23-17.  Reagan Doty served up to set point and Macey Buescher closed out the set at 25-20.
 The Wolverines had one set left to advance to day 2 of the tournament.  The Panthers began serving in the set, but the Wolverines took command and immediately jumped ahead 3-0. The Wolverines continued to work hard and maintained their advantage throughout the set to the 11-9 mark.      
 However, the Panthers were able to string together a trio of points to tie the set 12-12.  The surge had a big impact on the Wolverines, and they were unable to again shift the momentum in their favor and dropped the set 12-15 to the Panthers and the match 2-3.