Several local teams on the hunt for a 2025 state championship

EASTERN IDAHO — The Peg Peterson Invitational, in Pocatello, marks the start of the high school volleyball season. A handful of local schools have legitimate championship aspirations, including the four that brought home banners last year.

The Grace Lutheran Royals and Bear Lake Bears are coming off championship seasons in the 1A and 4A divisions, respectively. Each has finished with a winning record every year under their current head coaches — Stephanie Birch in Montpelier and Ashleigh Sayer-Frederick at Pocatello’s small private school.

Pocatello, Malad and Rockland High Schools, among others, enter the new year ready to vent some frustration after not delivering on their respective championship potential in 2024.

And of course, there are perennial powerhouses in the Butte County Pirates and Madison Bobcats. The Pirates, who have jostled with the Grace Grizzlies for conference domination for years, finished their 2024 season with a 42-8 record and a 2A banner.

The Bobcats, who have made winning on the biggest stage old hat, finished the year with their third consecutive state title.

Second-year head coach Keanu Pukahi, who previously served as an assistant coach at Madison, told EastIdahoSports.com that he and his team are ready to throw the ball in the air.

“I’m so stoked for the season,” he said. “I’m ready to be back in the gym already.”

Pukahi and Gretchen Simpson, who enters her eighth season as head coach at Butte County, both spoke about the coaching players receive prior to high school being the groundwork for their programs’ success.

“A lot of these girls have been playing together since — we have community programs that start them at five or six years old,” Simpson said.

Bobcat players come into high school with a deep understanding of the game and its fundamentals, Pukahi said. The middle school coaches, he added, prepare the girls to be successful.

“I’ve been very blessed by the fact that, because they do that, I can work on expanding upon those fundamentals with strategies and stuff like that,” Pukahi said.

Both teams lost some standout players.

Madison will enter the 2025 campaign without All-State performers Nora Waddoups and Brookie Lamph, while Butte County graduated Jobby Smith and Hayley Jardine. But they both return even more.

The Bobcats will be led by a quartet of reigning All-State selections in Mia Walsh, Aspen Boice, Jonnie Folsom and Torey Parker.

Simpson’s Pirates welcome back the 2024 2A All-State Player of the Year Cambree Lyon, along with All-State First-Teamers Addison Pancheri and Kolee Simpson.

Systems built for success along with the return of numerous top performers put both clubs at the top of the power rankings.

“We should still be very competitive,” Simpson told EastIdahoSports.com. “We’ll be very experienced.”

Bear Lake, on the other hand, lost three of their top performers from a year ago — including First-Team All-State selections Brynlee Birch and Saydee Shaul.

Still, looking to catapult her program into the ranks of the Madisons and Butte Counties, Birch has retooled on the fly.

“I’ve shuffled some kids around and put them in some different spots that they aren’t quite used to, and I think we have a good shot to be in it again,” she told EastIdahoSports.com.

Like their fellow reigning champs, Grace Lutheran suffered huge blows, including the graduation of 1A All-State Player of the Year Kirsten Krause. But like their peers, the Royals plan to reload and make another run.

Pocatello lost a handful of standouts, but bring back star Abby Lusk after finishing outside of the trophies last year. Rockland saw three of its four All-State performers of a year ago graduate, but brings back Trin Wiese, and All-State Third-Teamer.

On the other hand, Malad returns Izzy Haycock, the Co-Player of the Year in 3A, and three All-Staters.

While there will be plenty of names recognizable to eastern Idaho volleyball fans, there will be others that are perhaps lesser-known making major contributions.

Madison, Pukahi said, will ask for more from senior Emma Pannell, who didn’t receive “the accolades” as the coach described it, a year ago but made major contributions. Fellow senior Camri Call will step into the starting setter role, following the graduation of Waddoups.

Despite the losses, Pukahi believes this year’s team will be as good or possibly better than last’s.

“Their chemistry is off the charts, to be honest,” he said.

In Butte County, junior Taylee Roberts will be a key to the success following a sophomore season in which she saw limited action. And hitter Saige Wanstrom moves to setter.

“She’ll be integral to our offense,” Simpson said. “I’ve got a lot of bigs, so I had to figure out a way to keep my bigs swinging.”

Birch named a couple Bears who are coming off All-State seasons but who she expects even more from this year, in Kortlyn Skinner and third-year starting setter Emmie Sharp.

“(Sharp) runs a pretty quick offense and is one of the most competitive kids in the gym,” Birch said.

Junior Halle Wells has moved from middle blocker to outside hitter — “She’s going to be one to watch,” Birch said. And sophomore Avery Hunter is “going to make a name for herself.”

Coming off a season that saw four of six state volleyball banners cross Interstate 84 to the east side of the state, could the 2025 season have something similar in store? That story begins this week.