STATE 6A VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: Post Falls stuns Rocky with 9-0 finish

By MARK NELKE 

Sports editor 

COEUR d'ALENE — Being resilient is one thing. 

Then there's coming back from down 13-6 in the fifth set, which is what the Post Falls Trojans did on Thursday night. 

Senior Rylie Gump and junior Annabelle Tucker came up with some big kills during the comeback, and senior setter Lucy Carr served the final eight points as fourth-seeded Post Falls stunned fifth-seeded Rocky Mountain of Meridian, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 14-25, 15-13 in the first round of the state 6A volleyball tournament at Coeur d'Alene High's Viking Court. 

"It was so stressful, but it was so much fun," Gump said of those final nine points. "It was one of the best points of my life. I felt like I was a really big part of the team, and it felt really good to contribute to that." 

Post Falls (23-3) will play eighth seed Owyhee (21-11) of Meridian in a quarterfinal match today at 1:30 p.m. The Storm stunned top-seeded Rigby (36-6) in four sets in Thursday's final match of the evening.

Tucker, who led the Trojans with 15 kills, smashed one off the block from the right side to give Post Falls a 14-13 lead. Just two points from victory a few minutes earlier, Rocky Mountain (22-6) had a ball-control error on match point. 

"What's nice is, I definitely have some players on this team that respond really well to pressure," said first-year Post Falls head coach Casey Cornett, a Trojan assistant coach the past four seasons. "Lucy Carr is one of those players. I have no problem with her on the service line; she is going to serve an amazing ball, and the pressure's not going to get to her. 

"My girls are resilient; they're known to come back in games," Cornett said.  

Even from down 13-6 in the fifth? 

"OK, that might be a first, actually, this season," said Cornett, noting that even down in the fifth, "we did not let fear of losing affect our game." 

Freshman Peyton Barclift added 14 kills and three blocks for Post Falls. Tucker also had three blocks. Carr had 27 assists, Lucy Smith 18 assists and 18 digs, Teresa Smith 19 digs and two aces, Gump four blocks, Jade Laos two aces. 

Gump had the kill from the outside to finish off the third set for the Trojans, who appeared to be in control of the match at that point. 

"Rylie, man, these last few games, she's finally found her mojo again, and we rely on her," Cornett said. "She's a really strong hitter for us, and we need her to be on. For her to come out and have that kind of game ... it's not a surprise, but there's my girl, she was amazing.  

"Annabelle, she's been consistent all year," Cornett added. "Sometimes I don't think teams give Annabelle enough credit; she went up on that amazing point and she put the ball down. I couldn't have been prouder, but I wasn't surprised. I know she's capable of that." 

Sophomore outside hitter Allie Chandler had 21 kills and 24 digs for Rocky Mountain, which won the fourth set easily, and seemed well on its way in the fifth. Junior middle Claire Cullison had 12 kills for the Grizzlies, senior Olivia Sangsland 56 assists, senior Sophie Tanner 29 digs. 

"Post Falls is just a fierce competitor, and you can never rule them out," said Rocky Mountain coach Judyann Balukoff, in her fifth season in her second stint as Rocky coach, and ninth season overall with the Grizzlies. "We just maybe let our foot off the gas a little bit, and weren't quite as committed to finding a kill as we needed to be. Left the door open just a little bit, and they absolutely just played amazing at the end. Hat's off to them; they did a great job.  "They're a really balanced team," Balukoff added "The right side, No. 10 (Tucker) did great, they used their middles well, and served us aggressively." 

    MARK NELKE/Press Junior Annabelle Tucker (10) and senior Rylie Gump (7) go up for the block against Rocky Mountain sophomore Kelbie Giberson (11) in the first round of the state 6A volleyball tournament Thursday night at Coeur d'Alene High.