COEUR d'ALENE - When the final attack by Post Falls sailed out of bounds on match point in the state 5A championship, the Trojan players huddled and shed a tear or two.

But after an emotional trophy presentation, the Trojans rejoiced in the best state tournament finish in school history.

"We were so close," Trojan setter/outside hitter Allison Meehan said. "I'm a senior and these are my last matches and I just wanted to make the most of it. I'm sure this will feel better tomorrow."

Idaho Falls won its first state title since 2005, defeating Post Falls 25-21, 25-18, 21-25, 25-17 on Saturday night at Coeur d'Alene High.

The Trojans were at state for the third straight year, after having not gone since 1991, when they placed third - their previous best finish. Post Falls beat defending champion Rocky Mountian of Meridian 22-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-16 earlier Saturday to advance to their first title match.

“We’ve had some adversity throughout the season and we fought through that,” said Post Falls coach Willow Hanna, whose team finished 32-8. “We have seniors who want to be here ... they’ve wanted to be here since they were 12-year-olds. I just think it’s just tough to look at the end.”

Lake City also brought home a trophy by placing third, matching its best finish at state. The Timberwolves (21-6) lost to Idaho Falls 25-22, 25-22, 27-29, 17-25, 8-15 in the semis Saturday morning before rebounding against Rocky Mountain (20-7) in the third-place match, defeating the Grizzlies 20-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-14, 15-7.

“I could not be prouder of this group,” Taylor said.

Post Falls entered the tournament’s championship match after playing yet another well-executed match in its win over Rocky Mountain.

But against Idaho Falls the Trojans fell victim to their own mistakes.

Down two games to one, Post Falls’ poor serving in the fourth game ruined any hope of rallying back.

“We weren’t picking our spots, picking our seams, and I don’t think we were focusing on what we needed to do,” senior outside hitter Ashley Jibby said. “Had we been able to serve I think we would have won this match.”

A Danielle Failor kill tied the game at 7-7, but the ensuing Post Falls serve failed to clear the net.

The Tigers went on to score five of the next six points, preventing the Trojans from getting any closer than within three points.

“I thought we had too many unforced errors,” Hanna said of her team’s performance. “Our serving wasn’t on and we just couldn’t seem to get in a rhythm.”

Down 21-13 in the fourth game, Post Falls found some life, fighting back to make the score 23-17 but a kill by Idaho Falls’ Marley Taylor set up match point for the Tigers.

Idaho Falls coach Wendy Johnson made her eighth appearance in the state title match, and won her fourth championship.

Taylor, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker, led the Tigers with 12 kills, seven digs and five blocks. Hayley Farrer, headed to Idaho State next year, had 29 assists, 21 digs and six kills.

Senior libero Kaitlyn Johnson, bound for Wyoming, added 12 digs for the Tigers.

Jibby had a kill and an ace as Post Falls jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the match’s opening game.

But Idaho Falls (34-7) battled back and the two teams were deadlocked at 19 before the Tigers pulled away, winning the game on a Madi Hillam kill that fell between the diving Tori Bertsch and Brooke Litalien.

The Trojans scored the first point of the fourth game off a Failor kill, giving them their only lead of the game. The Tigers fired back and Taylor’s three consecutive kills helped Idaho Falls pull away at 19-14.

“The biggest thing is making teams adjust to us,” Johnson said. “I really like number 10 (Jibby), but she is a down-the-line hitter, and we just tried to step onto the line and take the hits she was going to send.”

The Trojans rebounded in the third game, gaining control off a Meehan kill.

Failor then used her size to cause havoc for Idaho Falls’ attackers.

The 6-foot-1 junior had four blocks in the game, finishing with nine in the match.

“I was really impressed with number 12 (Failor),” Johnson said. “She was a blocking machine in that game we dropped. We just struggled and struggled to get around her.”

Post Falls went on to win the game on a kill by Savannah Hill.

“I was glad to see we could fight through that third game and take one from them,” Hanna said.

Jibby had 16 kills, 12 digs and two aces to lead the Trojans. Bertsch had 29 assists, Allison Meehan eight kills and Litalien had 14 digs.

Up 24-16 in the fourth game of the semifinal match against Rocky Mountain, Jibby already knew the outcome of Bertsch’s incoming set.

“I completely knew that the match was going to be over,” Jibby said. “I was already picturing the win in my head. I just wanted that last one to put us in the championship match.”

Jibby had 16 kills and nine digs for Post Falls. Meehan had 12 kills, Brooke Litalien had 10 digs. Bertsch’s set to Jibby was her 33rd of the match.

Earlier, Lake City suffered a devastating loss to Idaho Falls, squandering a two-game lead.

Lake City never lead in the final game as the Tigers made the proper adjustments to contain outside hitters Jennifer Schuman and Kylie Curtis.

“They are two of the best hitter I have seen all year.” Johnson said. “So I moved my rotation to put different blockers up against them.”

The adjustment worked for Idaho Falls as Schuman tallied just five kills in the final two games combined. The senior had 22 in the match.

“I think they made the better adjustments,” Lake City coach Bret Taylor said. “We were getting the balls to our main hitters, but in places where we normally don’t do it from.”

Curtis was also effective early, finishing off the first two games with kills for the Timberwolves. The 5-foot-8 junior had 26 kills and 17 assists in the match.

Lake City had match point twice in the third game, failing to convert.

Then, a Curtis kill attempt failed to clear the net, giving the Tigers a match point at 28-27.

On the ensuing rally, Taylor struck the ball out of bounds. The Timberwolves bench and cheering section erupted, but the official called a net violation on Lake City, handing the Tigers the game.

The Timberwolves fell behind 5-1 early in the fourth game and never recovered, sending Lake City into the third place match.

Taylor said he was worried about his team having a letdown game in the match against the Grizzlies, and it showed early, as the Timberwolves dropped the first two games.

“After game two I asked them to look inside themselves and let me know that they have given me the best that they possibly can,” Taylor said. “They did some soul searching and found that they had another gear they could go to.”

In a mirror image of their earlier match, the Timberwolves found themselves rallying as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the fifth set.

“Oh my goodness that was excellent,” Taylor said of the early lead.

Camille Rounds served up all eight of the points as the senior ended her career with a 30 assist performance.

“I like to just be there for our hitters,” Rounds said. “Wherever they need the ball, I will get it there for them.”

The Grizzlies rallied back to within five, but two straight Curtis kills put Lake City back out in front as the Timberwolves scored seven of the final nine points to win the third-place trophy.