Lady Wolverines begin District play with a sweep over Payette

The Lady Wolverines finished up their regular season play with a 6-4 record in the Snake River Valley (SRV) Conference, which gave them a third place conference ranking.
 Their placing pitted them against the sixth place, Payette Pirates Saturday afternoon to begin their quest to secure a 3A Idaho State Volleyball Tournament berth in Twin Falls on October 30-31, 2020.
 The Lady Wolverines started out the first set a little sluggish, like maybe they were not entirely awake for the weekend tournament. However, trailing 1-4, senior libero, Macey Buescher, stepped back to serve for the Wolverines following a Pirate service error and Buescher proceeded to punish the Pirate receivers with floaters, spinners and flat-out strong serving.  Buescher served up four consecutive ace serves. The ace serves, coupled with a Pirate rotation error enabled the Wolverines to overtake the Pirates 7-4.
 From that point forward, the Wolverines were definitely awake and their play was impressive. Strong serving, hitting accuracy and big blocks kept the Wolverines energized and in command of the set.
 Senior Denica McClellan started the surge from behind the service line and expanded the Wolverine lead 11-7 with the help of a pair of kills from Jasi Yraguen and Reagan Doty.
 Yraguen began serving for the Wolverines and Ivy Morris found a hole in the Pirate defense with a free ball, while Tobie Noyer and Shelby Aldrich seemingly built a wall at the net with back-to-back collaborative stuff blocks.
 The Wolverines had a commanding 17-8 lead by the time Yraguen stopped serving, but the Pirates were unable to capitalize on the side-out opportunity and the Wolverines took control once again.
 Freshman setter, Danica Lockett, began serving for the Wolverines and two aces in addition to a Doty kill, pulled the Wolverines even further away to 22-9. Doty pushed a set deep into the Pirate backcourt for the side out. Doty started serving and a stuff block for Noyer and Whitney Cordes and a kill by Noyer capped the set in favor of the Wolverines 25-12.
 The Pirates were visibly rattled and struggled to gain any kind of forward momentum, but the Wolverines were relentless and worked hard for every ball.
 Doty started serving for the Wolverines in the second set and stayed behind the line for 8-consecutive points. During her service tenure, Doty recorded two aces, while Emma Tolman had a kill. Cordes put on a show in the front row adding three kills during the first 8-points.
 The Pirates managed to get on the board with a series of Wolverine miscues, but a Pirate hit into the top of the tape, put the Wolverines in command again. Buescher aced her first service opportunity, but unfortunately, followed it up with a serve that had a bit too much heat on it.
 The Pirates suffered a similar service error, and while McClellan proceeded to serve for the Wolverines, the lead continued to grow. McClellan served for 11-points, from two aces and aided by two kills each from Doty and Yraguen. With an insurmountable 23-6 lead, Yraguen served out the balance of the set to win 25-6.
 The Pirates were unable to get anything going in the third set and within moments the Wolverines took the lead 4-0 with a Doty ace serve and a stuff block from Noyer and Cordes. A Wolverine mistake while trying to play an overfed Pirate pass resulted in a side-out, but a double contact by the Pirates put the ball back into the Wolverine court and sent Buescher back to begin serving.
 Buescher served out the balance of the third set for 20-consecutive points. During her service, she recorded 13 aces and her teammates continued to slam down the kills and block every Pirate return. Tolman and Cordes had a total of 2 kills apiece and Yraguen had a tip kill to take the third set 25-1 and the match 3-0.
 The win advanced the Wolverines into the winner’s bracket side of the tournament, pairing them against the second place SRV finishers, Fruitland Grizzlies.
Weiser vs. Fruitland
 Energized by their big win against Payette and a brief lunch break, the Wolverines came out strong in the first set against the Fruitland Grizzlies.
 A Reagan Doty ace serve and two more kills from Whitney Cordes enabled the Wolverines to take a 5-1 lead.
 A series of miscues set back the Wolverines’ progress, but they kept their composure and traded points to the 19-19 mark. Senior Shelby Aldrich, slammed a kill down the line, prompting a Fruitland time-out with the Wolverines taking a 21-19 lead.
 The Grizzlies found a gap in the Wolverine defense for the tip kill, but a wild rally with an exciting pancake save and culminating in a Noyer kill, started the Wolverines toward their 26-24 first set win.
 Despite what should have been energizing to the Wolverine squad with their first set win, the Wolverines did not appear to be the same team. The Grizzlies jumped ahead 3-0, but an ace from Doty and a stuff block from Noyer kept the Wolverines in the game at 2-4. However, errors and serve receive difficulties put the Grizzlies ahead 8-3. The Grizzlies continued to push ahead, and the Wolverines appeared to have no counter with numerous errors and poor passes and found themselves trailing 4-16. A block of a tip by Cordes and Yraguen, a Yraguen ace and kills from Doty and Cordes were not nearly enough offense to get back into the set and the Wolverines lost 11-25.
 The second set loss did not deter the Wolverines and they began the third set strong.
 Tolman and Aldrich both tallied nice kills and Doty added a kill of her own for an 8-6 lead. Tolman added another kill and the Wolverines took advantage of every Grizzlies error to maintain a lead to 12-9.
 Back-to-back kills from the Fruitland court tied the set at 12-12, but a deep set into the Grizzlies’ backcourt by Ivy Morris, kept the Wolverines in the set.
 The Wolverines and Grizzlies traded points to the 22-22 point, whereas a pair of mistakes, including a Wolverine step over the center line allowed the Grizzlies to take the lead 24-22. Doty slammed a kill into the Fruitland court, but the Grizzlies countered with their own kill to take the set 25-23.
 The Wolverines had backed themselves into a precarious position with the Grizzlies leading two sets to one going into the fourth set, and the frustration was evident early on as the Wolverines looked disorganized and soon fell behind 5-8.
 A tip kill by Lockett, another kill by Cordes and a series of Fruitland errors allowed the Wolverines to tie the set 13-13. However, the Wolverines were unable to find their groove again and despite a Yraguen kill and a Doty kill, the Grizzlies took the fourth set, 25-20 and the match 3-1.