State volleyball tournaments to start Thursday; 18 local schools in the running
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IDAHO FALLS — As the state volleyball tournaments begin, 18 District 5-6 schools are in the hunt for one of six banners.
Madison is among the favorites in 6A, while Pocatello and Idaho Falls are in the 5A hunt. Bear Lake and Rockland are the one-seeds in 4A and 1A, respectively, while Malad and Butte County are two-seeds in 3A and 2A.
While the tournaments are scattered across the state, from Twin Falls to Coeur d’Alene, the 5A and 6A tournaments will be held in Idaho Falls, at the Mountain America Center.
All brackets are double-elimination, meaning one loss will not knock a team out but will make it an uphill climb the rest of the way.
6A
For most who watched high school volleyball in eastern Idaho this year — or really, the past few — it may have been a surprise to see Madison get the two-seed in the 6A tourney, especially considering they beat one-seed Skyview on Oct. 12.
The Bobcats lost just four sets in an undefeated run through Idaho opponents this year — but lost two matches at an early-October tournament in Utah. They will face No. 7 Rocky Mountain to begin their tourney run at 3 p.m. Thursday.
No. 8 Rigby will open its run against aforementioned Skyview at 5 p.m. Thursday.
The Trojans earned their tournament berth, as the second D4-5-6 qualifier, by beating Highland and Thunder Ridge in the district tournament.
5A
D5-6 will have three cracks at the 5A crown, with No. 2 Pocatello, No. 3 Idaho Falls and No. 4 Bonneville all earning seats at the table.
The Thunder will face No. 7 Wood River, whom they beat, 3-2, in September, at 3 p.m. Thursday.
The Tigers will face Columbia, whom they bested, 2-0, at the Peg Peterson Invitational Tournament in Pocatello at the beginning of the season. That match will begin at 1 p.m.
The Bees have drawn the late game to start things, facing Middleton at 7 p.m.
4A, at Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene
Bear Lake has been a 4A powerhouse all season, suffering all three of its losses during the ThunderBee Volleyball Classic in September. Since falling to Sugar-Salem, the Bears have won 18 straight matches, dropping just four sets in that span.
They face No. 8 South Fremont, who beat Sugar-Salem twice in the district tournament to earn their state berth. That match is scheduled for 5 p.m.
No. 6 Snake River gets its tournament run started at 1 p.m., against No. 3 Kimberley. Snake River bested Kimberley twice in two meetings during the regular.
3A, at University of Idaho’s Memorial Gym in Moscow
D5-6 is heavily represented in the 3A bracket, with four teams qualifying for the tournament.
No. 2 Malad will face No. 7 West Side at 3 p.m. in a conference showdown. The two teams have faced off five times this season, with the Dragons sweeping victories in each. In fact, Malad hasn’t lost set since it was beat, 2-0, by Madison at the ThunderBee — on Sept. 14.
No. 6 Ririe will begin its run at 1 p.m., when it faces No. 3 Ambrose. Ambrose is coming off a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Melba in their district tournament.
Speaking of Melba, it gets No. 8 Firth in the 5 p.m. match. The Panthers are also coming off back-to-back losses, to Ririe at their district tournament — tough they did best the Bulldogs to open the tourney.
2A, at Jerome High School in Jerome
While other classifications will see several D5-6 schools play, Butte County will be the area’s lone representative in 2A. And they had to beat Idaho City in a play-in game for their spot — they did so in straight sets, 3-0.
The No. 2 Pirates, who have not lost a set since Oct. 5 and a match since Sept. 25, open their state run at 3 p.m., against No. 7 Liberty Charter.
1A, at Canyon Ridge High School in Twin Falls
No. 1 Rockland avenged its lone regular season conference loss to Mackay during the district tournament. Now they face No. 8 St. John Bosco in the 5 p.m. match of 1A tournament with several D5-6 participants.
Mackay, in losing the district tourney, received a No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 Carey at 1 p.m.
No. 5 Grace Lutheran won a play-in match for the right to face No. Genesee in the 7 p.m. match.
Six groups will be crowned volleyball queens by the end of Saturday. And with so much representation, it is safe to assume eastern Idaho District 5 and 6 will have a say in who takes those titles.