Idaho Falls sweeps Bonneville to earn first district title since 2015
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IDAHO FALLS – The Idaho Falls volleyball team celebrated a district title for the first time since 2015 on Thursday, winning the 5A District 6 title with a 27-25, 25-19, 25-15 sweep of perennial conference power Bonneville.
The Tigers were 4-0 against the Bees this season, but Bonneville’s program has been battle tested over the years, especially in the postseason.
After losing to Idaho Falls in the semifinals, Bonneville had to beat Hillcrest to advance, and downed the Knights 3-1 earlier in the evening 23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-18 to secure a berth in the conference final and a berth to the state tournament.
In the Idaho Falls-Bonneville final, the first set was back-and-forth with the Tigers finally prevailing. Idaho Falls finished strong in the last two sets to close it out and earn a berth to the state tournament.
“It’s five seniors and they were incredibly talented from the get-go,” Idaho Falls coach Aaron Adams said of the team’s surge this season, adding that the seniors will likely play in college.
Idaho Falls was 0-2 in last year’s district tournament.
“This group was so devastated and one of the things we said this year is that we’re not going to focus on the outcome any more. We’re going to focus on the process. What can we do today in practice? What can we do this week in practice? We never talked about districts all season. We never talked about state … That’s been our focus,” Adams said.
Averi Look finished with 16 kills for the Tigers, Leah Thomas added 11. Lily Dailey finished with 43 assists and Addie Bowen led the team with 18 digs.
Cambria Western finished with 22 digs and 22 assists and Kadance Leonard led the Bees with 11 kills.
With two state berths, Idaho Falls and Bonneville each advanced to the 5A state meet beginning Thursday at the Mountain America Center.
The full bracket will be released after Saturday’s play-in games.
Volleyball District Tournaments
6A District 4-5-6
Rigby 3, Highland 0
Madison 3, Thunder Ridge 0
5A District 6
Bonneville 3, Hillcrest 1
Idaho Falls 3, Bonneville 0
4A District 5
Bear Lake 3, Snake River 0
3A District 6
Ririe 3, North Fremont 1
Ririe 3, Firth 0
Ririe 2, Firth 1
3A District 5
Declo 3, Soda Springs 0
Malad 3, West Side 0
West Side 3, Declo 0