Season Ends For Local Volleyball Teams

Two of our local volleyball teams saw their seasons come to an end last weekend as they competed in their respective district tournaments.  Each district is responsible for setting up their own district tournaments and every one of them is different. 

The 3A South East Idaho Conference includes Soda Springs, Malad, Aberdeen, West Side, Declo and Wendell.  The conference set up the district tournament so that the top two teams would receive first round byes while the other four teams matched up according to their regular season rankings.  That first round game was essentially a play-in game meaning that the two teams that lost in the first round were automatically eliminated from the tournament.  Out of the six teams in the conference the Lady Cardinals found themselves as the fifth seed matching them up with the fourth seeded Lady Trojans from Wendell in that round one elimination game.  When the two teams met in the regular season the match was an instant classic that went the full five sets with the fifth set ending in a Wendell victory with a score of 16-14.  The Lady Cardinals had hoped that last Saturday’s game would end with them as the victors.  Unfortunately that is not what happened.  The Lady Cardinals came out and took set one but then proceeded to lose the next three sets.  With the four set loss the Lady Cardinals season came to an abrupt end.

In the 1A Rocky Mountain Conference there are a whopping eleven teams.  The district tournament bracket is a true double game elimination bracket.  The North Gem Lady Cowboys finished the regular season in seventh place earning them a spot in that first round of games.  The Lady Cowboys were matched up in the opening round with tenth seeded American Heritage.  The Lady Cowboys as the higher of the two seeds was awarded the game on their home court.  The Lady Cowboys easily dispatched of American Heritage and moved on in tournament play on Saturday in Shelley.  In the next round of the tournament North Gem had to face the second seeded Rockland Bulldogs.  The Lady Bulldogs quickly took down the Lady Cowboys in three straight sets.  That loss moved the Lady Cowboys to the loser side of the bracket and matched them up with the Watersprings Lady Warriors.  The two teams split their regular season games with each team winning on their home court in four sets.  In this neutral site game it was not surprising that the match went the full five sets to decide the winner.  Unfortunately the Lady Cowboys came out on the short end.  The loss eliminated North Gem from the tournament and ended their season.

The third local team Grace will not have their fate decided until Wednesday night.  Check next week's edition to see how the Lady Grizzlies fared in their district tournament.

Cardinals 25 21 13 20

Trojans 18 25 25 25 

Cowboys 25 25 25 

Patriots 8 10 8

Cowboys 12 8 8

Bulldogs 25 25 25

Cowboys 23 25 23 25 14

Warriors 25 20 25 14 16