Wolverines quest for a state berth is kept alive with win over McCall

The Lady Wolverines continued their quest to secure a spot in the 3A Idaho State Volleyball Tournament by defeating the Payette Pirates and the Homedale Trojans An earlier loss to the Fruitland Grizzlies had the Wolverines competing in the elimination bracket of the Snake River Valley (SRV) District Tournament and fighting to stay alive. Their next pairing was against the McCall-Donnelly Vandals in the Tom Falash Gymnasium at Weiser High School on Thursday.
 The initial set of the match illustrated that both the Vandals and the Wolverines came to play and meant business. Despite an early lead for the Wolverines, the Vandals countered every offensive surge from the Wolverines, keeping the game within 2-points to the 9-7 mark.
 Back-to-back kills from Reagan Doty expanded the Wolverine lead to 5, but a series of hitting errors left the door open for the Vandals. Despite big kills from Tobie Noyer and Doty, the Vandals creeped back into the set and tied the score at 17-17.
 The Wolverines and the Vandals traded points and possession to the 21-21 mark, but an ace serve from both Yraguen and Locket and a kill from Doty put the Wolverines on top 25-23.
 Set 2 of the match began very rocky for the Wolverines with three hitting errors and three Vandal kills into gaps in the Wolverine defense, leaving the Wolverines trailing 1-7.
 Head Coach Lindsay Grant asked for a time-out to rally her team and the Wolverines came out of the huddle with a kill from Whitney Cordes.
 The Wolverines continued to work hard and play scrappy, aggressive volleyball, but the Vandals were on fire and managed to successfully locate every hole in the Wolverines defense. Before long, the Wolverines found themselves trailing the Vandals 11-20.
 A kill from the back row by Macey Buescher was the impetus to a momentous comeback launched by the Wolverines. Yraguen began serving and a kill from Doty, a stuff block from Noyer and a Vandal error allowed the Wolverines to pull within 5-points at 15-20. Another kill from Doty and a pair of kills from Tolman brought the Wolverines to 20-24, only one point away from the set loss.
 A big stuff block by Noyer and Cordes and kills from Cordes and Tolman tied the set 24-24. The crowd for both teams was electric and the courts were energized. Sadly, a bad Wolverine serve receive and an out-of-bounds hit gave the Vandals the set 28-26.
 The Wolverines were not going to make the same mistake again and get behind early in the set. So, wasting no time at all, the big Wolverine blockers showed their dominance with a stuff block from Noyer and Cordes, coupled with a tip kill by Lockett and a kill from Tolman. Leading 4-0, the Wolverines stumbled slightly, but managed to maintain a lead to the 10-7 mark. The 3-point deficit was as close as the Vandals would come for the duration of the set. The Wolverine hitters stepped it up a notch and Doty found her mark with 4 kills, while Cordes and Lockett each had 2 and Tolman and Yraguen had one apiece. The accuracy from the hitting personnel launched the Wolverines ahead of the Vandals for a 25-18 third set win.
 Once again, the Wolverines took an early lead in the fourth set and never looked back. The Vandals trailed the entire set, and the Wolverine hitters and blockers kept the Vandals away from any comeback possibilities.
 Yraguen and Doty had 3 kills apiece, followed by Tolman with 2 and Noyer with 1. The serves of the Wolverines were on the mark, also with 5 aces during the set from McClellan, Doty, Buescher and Morris to take the set 25-15 and the match 3-1.