Madison sweeps Bees aside behind balanced bombardment

IDAHO FALLS — Nine different Bobcats scored at least one point as Madison ran away with a straight-set victory over the Bonneville Bees inside The Hive at Bonneville High School Thursday night.

Before the start of the season, Madison head coach Keanu Pukahi spoke about balance being among the keys to the Bobcats’ recent run of dominance — which has brought Madison High School three consecutive state championships.

That balance was on full display Thursday night, as the Bobcats (4-0) earned a sweep of the Bees (7-3).

“That was a perfect example of what Madison volleyball has been,” Pukahi told EastIdahoSports.com after the match. “I’m very lucky to have the girls that we have — they just work hard in the gym, that’s what preps us for these types of games.”

Pukahi said that he spoke to the team at the start of the season about how everyone will get a chance to play and contribute, because of depth of the roster. He said that it “stinks” some of the girls will not get the amount of playing time commensurate with the effort they put it at practice, but he will continue looking for opportunities to rotate subs in more often.

The Bobcats attack came flying out of the gate, jumping to an 18-3 lead before the Bees could establish any sort of rhythm.

Bonneville put together a little offense but fell 25-6.

Madison got contributions from eight different scores in that first set, including back-to-back aces from senior Brooke Wheeler.

Wheeler was quiet on the scoring front the rest of the night, but the same cannot be said about junior Jonnie Folsom or senior Torey Parker.

Folsom finished with eight kills, two blocks and an ace, while Parker chipped in four kills, one block and three aces.

The Bees fell behind big again in the second, but again refused to go without a fight. After trailing 9-2, Bonneville got several points from Shayla Belnap, one of just three seniors on the young roster.

Belnap finished the night with nine kills, one block and one ace.

The efforts of Belnap and the Bees were for nought again, though, as Madison sealed a 25-18 second-set victory. They followed that up with a 25-15 win in the third set, which include more balanced scoring from Pukahi’s team.

After the match, though, the coach had already identified some shortcomings that need to be addressed.

The Bobcats, who tallied seven aces of their own, allowed five which is a number Pukahi wants to trimmed down immediately.

He said after the match that passing and serving are the two most important aspects of the game. But, he admitted that he was being nitpicky in calling out the passing errors, saying that he has to be nitpicky because he has a high standard, high expectation and a lot of love for the players. That being said, he acknowledged that the amount of subs he used had something to do with some communication letdowns and passing errors.

“Because we’re blessed to be so dominant, it gives me opportunities to get other people in,” he said. “With other people being in, they are going to be — the chemistry, the passing is going to be a little different, and I think it showed.”

While nine Bobcats scored at least one point, no one in the gym tallied more offense than Mia Walsh. The senior totaled 12 kills, despite getting her own rotations to the bench.

Pukahi said that Walsh is unique in that she is able to be dominant in any rotation — on either side or from the back row. Add that to the balance Madison is already showing in the early season and Pukahi believes the Bobcats will again be a difficult team to gameplan for. And though they have been overwhelming to their opponents, there is still much growth.

“We played pretty good,” Pukahi said, “but I think we can play a lot better.”