ON TO STATE!

For the ladies of Kellogg and Wallace, the 2020 volleyball season will continue for another 10 days.

The Lady Wildcats needed five sets to put Timberlake away, while the Lady Miners only needed four to dispatch Lakeside and both schools were district champions by the end of the night.

For Wallace, the 2020 season was one to remember.

After seven years of toiling in a play-in situation that never gave them much of a fair shake, Wallace used the formation of a new league and wasted no time in reaping the benefits of it.

After going undefeated in the Scenic Idaho Conference, they earned the right to host the 1A DI District Championship Match.

Wallace head coach Katie Bauer was so excited for her girls, after ending a 6-season postseason drought she really thinks that the key for them to have some success will depend on them staying mentally ready.

“My girls are so motivated and hardworking,” Bauer said. “They’re such a talented group of girls, it’s going to be up to them to be mentally ready for state-level competition. As long as they don’t get overwhelmed by the idea of ‘State’ I think they’ll be good.”

For the second consecutive season, Kellogg went undefeated in the Intermountain League and earned the right to host every district tournament match they would play.

Timberlake once again attempted to be the spoilers, but even with the dramatic 5-set win that required Kellogg to dig deeper than they had in any of their previous matches against the Tigers.

Their savior came in the form of Grace Nearing, who served 11 straight in the fourth set while staring elimination down the barrel.

“Grace ran her court tonight,” said Kellogg Coach Steph Brunner. “She caused a lot of momentum shifts in big moments, she had that pancake late, the serving, she knew when and where to attack.”

Jezzy Hall, Macy Jerome and Hailey Cheney all played vital roles for the Wildcats as well.

"I have been pushing this team a lot this season," Brunner said. "We only lost two matches all year, both to a 5A school. Even with all of that winning our girls have stayed humble. I love their humility, but at some point they are going to have to own themselves and what they've accomplished."

The Wildcats are marked targets, making their third straight trip to the state tournament, this time with likely the youngest team in the pool of eight.

The Kellogg volleyball team wasn’t the only Kellogg High School athletes to win a district championship as cross country runner Shaye Sullivan won the 3A District I meet at Farragut State Park on Thursday as well.

Sullivan had a few other teammates qualify, but she was the team’s only champion.

The lady Tigers of Mullan Jr./Sr. High School also had a chance to punch their ticket to state Thursday night at home, but just weren’t able to overcome a dominant Clark Fork effort.

Losing in three sets, the Tigers would charge out of the gate at the start of each by putting up multiple points in a row, but then struggled to keep the momentum going.

“We started out on fire,” said Coach Dawn Mckinnon. “And then this game can just change like that.”

Mckinnon was sad with how things ended, but proud of the season as a whole.

“It was a tough loss, I was hoping to give them a tougher fight than that, darn it!” she said. “I’m proud of these kids though, they work hard. Overall, a great season. I hope the kids keep their heads up.”

Mullan was named the co-champions of the North Star League, along with Clark Fork, at the conclusion of the match.

Wallace Volleyball will open the 1A DI State Tournament next Friday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. (MST) at Jerome High School.

Kellogg volleyball will play their opening match in the 3A State Tournament next Friday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. (MST) at Twin Falls High School.

Members of Kellogg’s cross country team will be running in the state meet next Friday at the Portneuf Wellness Complex in Pocatello.