All-South East Idaho Conference state quarterfinal set after Rockland, Mackay both handle first-round business

AMMON — The Rockland Bulldogs and Mackay Miners have set the stage for an all-South East Idaho Conference quarterfinal showdown Friday after both teams controlled their state tournament opening-round matches at Thunder Ridge High School on Thursday.

Rockland swept the only meeting between the two teams during the regular season and has not lost a match to Mackay since Oct. 12, 2024, going 5-0 in head-to-head matchups since. But when the two conference rivals meet Friday afternoon, the Miners will be riding the high of a dominating upset over Clark Fork.

Miners bounce back from slow start to crush Wampus Cats

Mackay’s senior trio of Laia Osegna, Trista Hawley and Jaida Rodriguez was too much for Clark Fork, even after they jumped out to a quick start and rode it to a first-set win.

Before any of the Miners could blink, they trailed 6-1. And though No. 5 Mackay battled back, the No. 4 Wampus Cats claimed the opening set of their 2026 state tournament 25-23.

Following the 6-1 start, though, Thursday’s match was all Mackay. The Miners outscored Clark Fork 97 to 59 from that point on, behind a well-rounded performance from Rodriguez. Mackay’s outside hitter finished the match with nine kills, one block and seven aces.

But she wasn’t the only Miner who made serve-receive hell on the Wampus Cats. As a team, Mackay finished the match with 18 aces, including three from Osegna and two from Hawley. Osegna added five kills and three blocks, with another nine kills coming from Hawley.

After the first-set loss, Mackay ran away, winning the next three sets 25-11, 25-15, 25-14, for a 3-1 win.

The Miners will continue their tournament run Friday at 1:30 p.m., when they take on the top-seeded Bulldogs.

Hatch, Bulldogs chomp Panthers

Mackay wasn’t the only 1A District 5-6 team with an unstoppable trio of stars Thursday at Thunder Ridge. Rockland’s Gracie Freeman and Belle Schmidt joined Mahana Hatch in leading the No. 1 Bulldogs to a straight-set win over the No. 8 Carey Panthers.

Hatch led Rockland with 15 kills, four blocks and two aces. Every time her team was pressed by the Panthers, the sophomore pushed back as the Bulldogs’ go-to attacker.

Assistant coach Lynnsie Ah Fook, who coordinates Rockland on the court, said after the game that Hatch does everything a team could ask of her.

“She gives 110 (percent) in everything she’s doing, and she’s that hype-man who you would want to be your teammate,” Ah Fook said.

Carey scored the first point of the match on a passing error from the Bulldogs. But that was it for the Panthers until deep into the match.

Rockland scored the next two points, then never allowed another Carey lead until a 1-0 start to the third set. The Panthers put up a fight in the third, but it wasn’t enough as they went down 25-12, 15-13, 25-18.

But it wasn’t a perfect performance, according to Ah Fook, who said that the Bulldogs’ title-worthy play is beginning to come together.

“There are some things that we need to clean up, but it’s definitely coming together,” she said, adding that, “Ultimately, we come into every game thinking it’s going to be a battle. That’s what we know, and we have that battle mentality where, if we want it that bad, we’ve got to show it every ball.”

Hatch wasn’t the only Bulldog who showed her fight on every ball. Freeman added 14 kills as the primary front-row attacker while Hatch was rotated to the back row. And Schmidt came off the bench to contribute two kills and four big blocks.

The Bulldogs and Miners will battle Friday for a spot in the semifinal round. The loser will not be eliminated from contention, but they will have to battle back from the losers’ bracket, needing to win five consecutive matches in two days to claim the banner.

Her team’s key to victory, Ah Fook said, is remaining focused on their own play and disregarding Rockland’s history with Mackay.

“Everything up to this point is just about going forward. We’ve battled with Mackay many times over the years, but it’s just — we’ve got to focus on what we do on our side and take care of the ball,” she said.