Poky freshman Lucy Tuia appears poised to fill 2025 grad Abby Lusk’s spot

POCATELLO — After being eliminated in the state play-in round last season, the Pocatello Thunder and head coach Paige Leatham went into the offseason looking for answers to several questions.

None of those questions, though, was bigger than, “Who will replace three-time All-State outside hitter Abby Lusk?”

There was no way Leatham could have expected a freshman to show up and fill Lusk’s massive shoes. But Lucy Tuia appears to be doing precisely that after one week and eight matches of action.

Leatham called Tuia’s arrival at Pocatello High School and immediate emergence “the best surprise of my life.”

“I saw her in seventh grade, and I was like, ‘She’s going to be so good,’ so I was so excited when she chose to come to Poky,” the coach told EastIdahoSports.com after winning the Peg Peterson Invitational’s silver bracket championship.

Tuia rolled her ankle at practice in the days leading up to last weekend’s Peg Peterson Invitational tournament and was forced to watch her team play from the bench on Friday.

The Thunder (7-1) went 2-1 in pool play without the 5-foot-10 attacker, meaning Pocatello is capable of winning while leaning on other stars, like Second-Team All-State libero Addison Gregory, senior Lainey Rogers and junior Maeve Rollins. But with that final piece, Leatham believes her squad is capable of competing for a state championship.

“She’s going to push us to the next level this year, because we have good pieces, but she was the piece that — I was like, ‘I don’t know who’s going to be our outside this year. She fits in so well,” Leatham said.

With Tuia back on the floor for Saturday’s bracket play, Poky went 4-0 to win the tournament’s silver bracket.

During that run, the Thunder lost just one set — the opening set of the championship match against the Snake River Panthers. Snake River then jumped out to a sizable advantage in the second set before Pocatello and setter Adalyn Merrill began force-feeding the freshman.

Tuia helped the Thunder come back and win the second set, then run away from the Panthers for a 15-6 win in the third and deciding set.

Leatham said that while she is just a freshman, Tuia is very mature and has been since she joined the team.

“She has no fear, and I love it,” Leatham said. She is just a playmaker. … And she has a big arm, which is another thing that we’ve been missing.”

After helping her team win the Peg Peterson, Tuia recorded a team-high 14 kills in a straight-set victory at Thunder Ridge on Tuesday.