Trojans continue legacy of WPL dominance

The 2A Whitepine Volleyball League is still owned by the Troy Trojans, they just allow everyone else to play in it.

Troy (24-0) won the WPL district championship for the ninth consecutive season with a four-set victory over Potlatch on Wednesday at the P1FCU Activity Center in Lewiston.

The Trojans are headed to State for the 17th straight year and will attempt to win their fourth consecutive state title. Troy won with set scores of 21-25, 25-17, 25-20 and 25-23.

“We’re ecstatic, really. That’s one of the only words that can describe it,” Troy senior Teagan Gale said. “I think that it’s so exciting that we’re able to have this opportunity itself because lots of teams don’t. ... I’m very excited to see what this team will do.”

Gale had 15 kills for Troy. Sophomore Tessa Stoner compiled 15 kills and six aces and freshman Emma Wells tallied 11 kills and two aces.

“It’s very heartwarming. We’ve worked so hard as a team, all of the teams I’ve played for have been so incredibly different,” Gale said. “It’s just awesome to win with such a successful team and such a positive team.”

Senior Kathy Burnette filled the stat sheet for Potlatch. Burnette had six kills, six blocks and was 18-for-18 serving. Sophomore Aubrey Lisher had 17 digs and 12 kills and freshman Maddelyn Smith had 16 digs.

“I told the girls I was proud of their effort. That’s the closest we’ve played Troy ever in the eight years I’ve been here. That’s the closest we’ve taken them in a match. I told them there’s no shame there,” Potlatch coach Ron Dinsmoor said. “Tomorrow, we (still) have a chance to go to the state tournament. That’s the goal. It doesn’t matter how you get there, one or two.”

The Loggers (18-6) will face Prairie at 6 p.m. today at the same location in a battle for the second state tournament bid out of the district.

Seedings for the 2A state tournament, which will be held in Jerome, Idaho, will be announced on Saturday. The first round will take place on Halloween and the tournament will run through Nov. 2.

First set upset

The last time the Trojans and Loggers faced off was on Potlatch’s senior night on Oct. 15. The Loggers were able to earn a first-set victory, but Troy took control and won the next three.

Much like that contest last week, it was the Loggers who struck first.

It was a well-balanced clash between the top two seeds in the WPL as neither team was able to build more than a two-point advantage. That was until the Loggers took advantage of back-to-back Troy errors to take a 17-14 lead.

The Trojans showed their toughness and battled back to win 7-of-10 points to take a one point lead. After a service error tied the set at 22, Potlatch senior Burnette took over and served four consecutive points as the Loggers took the first set 25-21.

“It was a great match. They’ve been the gold standard and we’re trying to get there,” Dinsmoor said. “Again, it’s two times in a row now we’ve come out and taken the first set. I thought we played really, really well. The next thing now we’ve got to do is carry that.”

Troy Legacy

Troy coach Debbie Blazzard and other Troy players had shirts that had the definition of the word “legacy” on the back. The Trojan coach said that the girls on the team were very proud to be a part of the legacy that had been created at the school and did not want to let anyone down. This year, the team has focused more on positive energy and it showed on the court.

“My three seniors, they have driven that positive attitude,” Blazzard said. “Yeah, it’s a different year. It’s really, really different, but I like it.”

That showed as Troy bounced back in the second set to take a quick 9-4 advantage and did not look back. Potlatch cut the lead to three at 11-8, but could not get any closer the rest of the set.

Wells stepped up several times in the match, but shined the most in the second set. She had two kills that forced a set point. Troy would capitalize on a miscommunication two points later to even the match at one set apiece.

“It feels so amazing,” said Wells, a former team manager for the Trojans. “I’ve managed for eight years before this, and so just getting to, like, experience it myself felt so good.”

The freshman was also a major part of the third-set victory. With the Trojans trailing 21-20, Wells hit back-to-back kills to give Troy the lead.

“Some things that I really, really liked was just my up-and-coming underclassmen just stepped up, and I just love that,” Blazzard said. “I love the future of the program, and I love seeing sometimes freshmen, they’re pretty fearless, and I saw that tonight, and I love it.”

Gale connected on an ace and the Trojans won the final six points of the third set to move within one set of another district title.

Loggers never give up

Down two sets to one and down 14-8 in the fourth set, Dinsmoor used his second and final timeout. At that moment, it felt like the chance had slipped away from Potlatch. It felt that way for everyone except those in the Logger huddle.

The two teams would trade points out of the timeout and a kill by Gale put the Trojans four points away from victory. However, it was a freshman who would step up for Potlatch.

Smith recorded a kill and two aces as the Loggers climbed back with six consecutive points to tie the set at 21. The fantastic crowd inside the Activity Center was never louder than that moment.

“Potlatch always has an amazing student section, and their parents are always so loud and that’s such a fun environment to play in,” Gale said. “So I’m really thankful that we got such an amazing crowd out and the Troy crowd was also awesome, so it’s just so fun to play in a loud environment.”

Troy and Potlatch traded two-point streaks to make it a 23-23 score, but an untimely double hit was called on Potlatch and Troy cashed in on match point.

Prairie def. Lapwai

The Prairie Pirates jumped out early and kept their State hopes alive with a four-set win over the Lapwai Wildcats in a loser-out match.

Prairie (16-10) won by set scores of 25-12, 25-15, 23-25 and 25-15.

“I felt like it was a really good win for us,” Pairie coach Julie Schumacher said. “Everyone was playing really well.”

Junior Sydney Shears led the Pirates with 14 kills. Senior Lexi Schumacher added 13 kills.

A strong serving game was key for Prairie in the victory. Senior Tamden Pecarovich had six aces on 18 serving attempts. Senior Kaylie Lockett was 24-of-24 at the service line with four aces.

Lapwai (9-11) saw its season come to an end with the loss. Seniors Charlize Kipp, Leiloni Ellenwood, Amasone George, Andraeana Domebo and Emma Chief played their final games with the Wildcats.

The Pirates will play Potlatch today at 6 p.m. at the P1FCU Activity Center for the second 2A state berth out of the Whitepine League.

“I think what we need to be able to do tomorrow, every girl has to contribute. We can’t rely on one or two,” Schumacher said. “We need to keep communicating, we need to be smart, but we have to rely on everybody.”

Isbelle can be reached at 208-848-2268, risbelle@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyIsbelle.