State volleyball preview: Despite limitations, teams just thankful

| October 30, 2020 1:20 AM

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

With fewer fans in the stands, fewer matches in each bracket and, now, fewer teams in the tournament, Idaho's six state volleyball tournaments begin early this morning in southern and eastern Idaho.

Area teams in action include Coeur d'Alene (5As at Skyline High in Idaho Falls), Lakeland (4As at Kimberly High), Timberlake and Kellogg (3As at Twin Falls High), St. Maries (2As at Buhl High), Wallace (1A Division I at Jerome High) and Clark Fork (1A Division II at Burley High).

Thanks to Idaho Gov. Brad Little reverting the state to Stage 3 of his Idaho Rebounds plan during COVID-19, limited attendance at each volleyball site became even more limited. Other than "essential" personnel, only 25 fans per team are allowed in the gym for each match.

Also, to allow for more time to clean the gyms after each match, as well as usher the fans in and out of the gym after each match, the volleyball tourneys are not double-elimination this year. They are single-elimination with a consolation bracket, just like state basketball and baseball.

Of the two adjustments, the condensed bracket might have a bigger impact on the tournaments, as no longer can a team lose early in the tourney and fight its way back into the championship round.

"I think I am just thankful we have made it this far," Coeur d'Alene coach Carly Curtis said. "The single-elimination tournament is limiting, but I understand why. My staff is just making sure our team is aware of the new format and what it takes to win. With such a big group of seniors, the motivation is high and to do whatever it takes to make it happen."

The tournament already lost one team on the eve of the first day of play. Sun Valley Community School reported a positive COVID-19 test earlier this week and has pulled out of the 1A Division II tourney at Burley High.

Sun Valley's scheduled first-round opponent today, Horseshoe Bend, will advance to Saturday's semifinals via forfeit. And the loser of today's Mackay-Tri-Valley match will pick up a forfeit win in the consolation bracket, and advance directly to Saturday morning's consolation title match.

State tourney matches are being streamed, for a fee, on the NFHS Network.

Coeur d'Alene (11-3), at state for the third straight year, opens today at 7 a.m. PDT vs. Mountain View (9-5) of Meridian. Mountain View last played at state in 2014.

Thunder Ridge (34-9) of Idaho Falls, the defending champion, is on the other side of the bracket. Skyview (12-0) of Nampa, runner-up the last two years, could face Coeur d'Alene in the semifinals if both win today.

Lakeland (10-6), at state for the second straight year after not having gone since 2005, opens vs. Preston today at 7 a.m. PDT.

Bonneville (32-10) of Idaho Falls, which has dominated the 4A and 5A ranks in recent years, is on the other side of the bracket. If Lakeland and Bonneville were to meet, it would likely be in the finals.

Bonneville is the defending state 4A champ, after finishing runner-up in 2018. Before moving down, the Bees won state 5A titles in 2016 and ’17, beating Lake City for the title in 2017. All told, Bonneville has captured 10 state titles since 1991.

Timberlake is back at state for the sixth straight season, and 11th in school history, all under coach Michelle Garwood, who started the Tigers program in 1998.

Timberlake (7-10) opens vs. defending champion Sugar-Salem (29-3), which has won three of the last four state titles, today at 9:30 a.m. PDT.

This year, Timberlake finished third in the Intermountain League, but beat No. 2 seed Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy twice at districts to earn District 1's second berth to state.

I’ve always been proud of Timberlake because we seem to peak at the end of the season," Garwood said. "It may take us a while to get there but eventually we are where we want to be by the district tournament."

Timberlake started 0-6, with four of those losses to 4A and 5A schools. But the Tigers finished strong, winning five of its last eight.

"Playing the 4 and 5A teams was difficult but it really magnifies the things that you need to work on, and so even though we took our lumps at the start it gave us a good idea of the things that we need to work on to be competitive," Garwood said. "Our team has always been a team that doesn’t give up and doesn’t quit and so even though our season has been difficult the girls still stick in there and they’re still competitive and realize that really what matters is that district tournament, so they just keep playing toward that end.

"This has definitely been a strange season and we are lucky to have the opportunity to go to state."

Kellogg (13-2) is at state for the third straight year, after having not gone to state since 1996. This is the Wildcats' sixth trip to state in school history.

St. Maries (9-4) opens vs. Melba (16-1) today at 7 a.m. PDT. St. Maries is at state for the fifth time in six seasons, trying for its first trophy since a third-place finish in 2016.

"We are going into the state tournament at a good place, finally feeling like we have gotten some games in after our late season start," St. Maries coach Rachele Fischer said.

St. Maries started its season three weeks later than the other teams in North Idaho, due to COVID-19 concerns. The Lumberjacks went on to win the Central Idaho League and District 1-2 tournament.

"This season has been difficult on most teams I believe," Fischer said. "For us we didn’t have our normal spring ball open gyms, summer practice, summer league, or camps. Our girls were definitely ready to get the season started and worked really hard to get back into it. Due to our late start and no regular offseason work, it took us a bit to get going, working the kinks out."

1A Division I

Wallace (11-4), champions of the new Scenic Idaho Conference and the District 1 tournament, opens vs. Oakley at noon PDT.

Troy (15-1), the two-time defending champion and winners of three of the last four state titles, is on the other side of the bracket.

1A Division II

Clark Fork (12-2), the District 1 champion, opens vs. Castleford (18-0) today at 9:30 a.m. PDT.

Watersprings, which won state in 2017 and last year, is on the same side of the bracket as the Wampus Cats.