Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Bonneville win first-round games to open state tournament

IDAHO FALLS — The 5A state volleyball championships are underway at the Mountain America Center in Idaho Falls, and local teams are undefeated in the first round.

Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Bonneville picked up first-round wins to move into the winner’s bracket along with the No. 1 seed Twin Falls Bruins.

Here’s a full recap of Thursday afternoon’s events.

No. 3 Idaho Falls defeats No. 6 Columbia, 3-0

The Tigers dominated on their way to a 25-9 first set victory, led by the formidable duo of Leah Thomas and Emma Vollmer.

However, in the second set, both teams had numerous serving and passing errors, as well as fouls. In the end, Idaho Falls overcame a late surge from the Wildcats and cruised to a 25-16 victory.

Colombia refused to go down without a fight in the third set, rallying for a pair of runs to erase an early deficit. Again, Idaho Falls relied on Thomas and Vollmer to complete a 3-0 run with a 25-17 third-set victory.

Thomas dominated in all aspects, finishing the match with 16 digs, one block and one service ace. Vollmer added five kills, one block and two aces.

No. 2 Pocatello defeats No. 7 Wood River, 3-1

Pocatello was never in complete control of either set, but was still able to pull out an impressive win over the Wolverines.

The Thunder’s offense seemed to get a little out of rhythm every time Abby Lusk returned to the back line. However, despite a lackluster matchup, Jacoby Nebecker did enough to push Pocatello into those rotations.

Pokey withstood a late Wood River rally in the first set to escape with a 25-23 victory. The Wolverines put together another late surge in the second match and were unstoppable this time, scoring eight of the final 11 points of the set to tie the match, 1-1, with a 26-24 set win.

In the third and fourth sets, Kannasyn Garza, a middle blocker, joined Lusk and Nebeker in both offense and defense. In the fourth and final set alone, Garza blocked four Wood River attacks.

“Thunder” finished the match with victories with a score of 25-18, 25-21.

Garza finished with five kills and four blocks. Lusk finished with 13 kills and two blocks, while Nebeker added 11 kills and four aces.

#1 Twin Falls defeats #8 Lakeland 3-0

The top-ranked team in Group 5A advanced to the winner’s bracket with a straight-sets victory over the Lakeland Hawks.

No. 4 Bonneville beat No. 5 Middleton 3-1

The Bees overcame a deficit in the second set to win the match, led by Sheila Belknap.

Bonneville took complete control in the third and fourth sets, winning 25-17 and 25-13.

Schedule for Friday

The second day will begin with matches between losers. Wood River and Columbia will start at 9 a.m., Lakeland and Middleton at 11 a.m.

Both losers were eliminated and the winners advanced to play the losers in winner-takes-all matches.

Idaho Falls and Pocatello will take the stage at 1:30 p.m. to kick off the games on the winner’s side. Twin Falls and Bonneville will follow at 3:30 p.m

The winners of the early afternoon games will not return to the court until Saturday morning, while the losers will play win-or-go-home matches in the evening.