Bears accustomed to being underdogs

Moscow’s Toni Claus is taking her team to the Idaho Class 4A state volleyball championship for the second time since assuming the top job.

In Claus’ seven years with the Bears, getting over the hump at the district tournament has been a challenge, but they had the touch of magic they needed this time. To earn their first state berth since 2017, they saved several championship points in the district final against defending state champion Lakeland on Oct. 21 before prevailing 25-21, 20-25, 25-20, 7-25, 17-15.

Moscow (12-9) had been seeded second in the tourney after finishing the regular season at 5-3 in Inland Empire League play, compared with Lakeland’s 6-2. The Bears begin their state tournament play at 11 a.m. Friday at Post Falls High School facing another opponent seeded one spot above themselves: Columbia of Nampa, which is No. 4 to their fifth.

Columbia (21-8) was first in the regular season in the Class 4A Southern Idaho Conference and clinched its district title with a four-set victory against Nampa High School.

“We have watched film on them,” Claus said. “They seem like a decent team. Hopefully, we’ll play how we’ve been playing toward the end of this season, and we can get a jump on them. I feel like with our tough serving and our defense, hopefully that will get them.”

Moscow has gotten all-court leadership in recent outings from the likes of junior Morgan Claus, daughter of the coach, who regularly posts double-digit kill and dig totals; setter Sam Unger with massive assist and dig outputs of her own; and sophomore Taylor Broenneke, who among other things made clutch blocks to save and convert match points in the district final. Toni Claus, whose team was eliminated with two defeats on the first day of the 2017 tourney, is looking to push the envelope this time around.

“Right now, we’re in a good place with our team,” she said. “We’re hoping to make it to the second day, of course. Just a hard-working bunch of kids that want to keep playing volleyball.”

The tournament will conclude Saturday, and features an eight-team field.

Class 4A

at Post Falls High School

Friday’s matches

Match 1 — Wood River vs. Nampa, 9 a.m.

Match 2 — Columbia vs. Moscow, 11 a.m.

Match 3 — Twin Falls vs. Century, 9 a.m.

Match 4 — Bonneville vs. Skyline, 11 a.m.

Match 5 — Match 1 Loser vs. Match 2 Loser, 2 p.m.

Match 6 — Match 3 Loser vs. Match 4 Loser, 2 p.m.

Match 7 — Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner, 4 p.m.

Match 8 — Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner, 4 p.m.

Match 9 — Match 5 Winner vs. Match 8 Winner, 6 p.m.

Match 10 — Match 6 Winner vs. Match 7 Winner, 6 p.m.

Saturday’s matches

Consolation final

Match 11 — Match 9 Winner vs. Match 10 Winner, 9 a.m.

Winner’s bracket final

Match 12 — Match 7 Winner vs. Match 8 Winner, 11 a.m.

Third-place match

Match 13 — Match 11 Winner vs. Match 12 Winner, 2 p.m.

Championship

Match 14 — Match 12 Winner vs. Match 13 Winner, 4 p.m.

Match 15 — Match 14 Winner vs. Match 14 Loser, 6 p.m. (if necessary)

Wendt may be contacted at cwendt@lmtribune.com, or (208) 848-2268.