Lady Wolverines take on Tri-Valley Titans for season opener

It has been over 5 months since fans and athletes have been able to participate in any kind of Wolverine athletics, but the drought was brought to an end last week when the Lady Wolverines hosted fellow Washington County athletes, the Tri-Valley Titans, a combination of Cambridge and Midvale High Schools.  
 The fans were excited to be able to get back into Tom Falash Gymnasium to support the Lady Wolverines, and the grandstands reflected the excitement with full student and community sections.  
 However, despite a talented group of Lady Wolverines and a deep bench, the Wolverines played a bit out of sorts and were never able to find a consistent rhythm and lost to the Titans in straight sets, 21-25, 17-25 and 19-25.
 The first set began with the Titans jumping to an early 3-0 lead, but strong serving by senior, Reagan Doty, enabled the Wolverines to pull ahead 4-3.  The Titans and the Wolverines battled for dominance, trading points and side-outs with the Wolverines maintaining a slight lead, to the 8-6 mark.  
 Strong serving by Titan player, Zoe Ertel, and a lack of communication by the Wolverines, enabled the Titans to go on a 7-0 scoring run and take a commanding 13-8 lead over the struggling Wolverines.  
 The Wolverines regrouped and battled to stay in the set, pulling within 3-points at 12-15, but it was short lived with the Titans regaining control with Hadley Atnip scoring five consecutive points, jumping ahead 20-12.  
 Despite the large deficit, the Lady Wolverines kept working hard and Doty was able to keep the Wolverines in the game, scoring 3-points to 15-20.  
 The Wolverines continued to chip away at the deficit and freshman setter, Danica Lockett served the Wolverines to the 20-22 mark. Unfortunately, a Wolverine hitting error and a tip kill of an overfed pass by the Titans ended the set 21-25 in favor of Tri-Valley.
 The Wolverines came out in the second set very strong, with two kills by Emma Tolman, a kill from the back row by Macey Buescher and tip kills by both Ivy Morris and Jasi Yraguen, taking the lead 5-4.
 Unfortunately, the Wolverine communication fell apart and the play on the Weiser side became very messy.  Head coach, Lindsay Grant called a time-out at 6-7 to discuss matters with her squad, but it was to no avail and the Wolverines continued to slip further behind.  
 Trailing 6-12, Buescher had a kill from the back row and Doty strategically placed a tip that the Titans were unable to return.  Sophomore, Mattie Shirts added 3-points for the Wolverines, one of which was an ace, pulling the Wolverines to within 3-points at 10-13, but a series of unanswered kills by the Titans stopped the Wolverine comeback until a kill by sophomore, Tobie Noyer, put the ball back into the Wolverines’ hands.  
 Trailing 13-20, Buescher recorded another kill from the back row and Tolman also added a kill, but the Titans were simply too far ahead for the Wolverines to regain the lead and lost the second set, 17-25.
 Staring at the prospect of a potential sweep, the Wolverines really needed to get a third set win to stay in the match. However, from the very start, the Wolverines struggled with bad passes, communication errors, setting troubles and service errors. In short order the Wolverines found themselves trailing 2-13.  
 A pair of kills by Doty seemed to add some fire back into the Wolverine side of the net and what seemed like an insurmountable scoring difference soon became a bit more attainable once Shirts stepped back behind the service line.  
 Shirts began serving and recorded two aces and a pair of kills by Doty allowed Shirts to serve for six consecutive points, bringing the score to a more manageable 12-17. The Wolverines kept working to stay in the set, but numerous errors gave the set to the Titans 25-19 and the match 3-0.
 The Lady Wolverine junior varsity team was able to come away with the win in their pairing against the Tri-Valley Titans, winning 25-17 and 25-13 in straight sets.
Weiser vs. Nampa Christian August 27
 The Lady Wolverines traveled to the home of the Nampa Christian Trojans last week for their second match of the 2020 season.  
 Following a disappointing home outing against the Tri-Valley Titans, the Wolverines were really looking for a win, but came up short, losing in four sets 25-19, 14-25, 23-25 and 21-25.