Defending state champ Hillcrest with plenty of new faces, plus other storylines for the new season

IDAHO FALLS – The banner hangs high on a wall of the Hillcrest gym, signifying a historic season for the Knights’ volleyball program.

2025 STATE CHAMPIONS.

Has a nice ring to it.

“Good memories,” coach Dallas Gines said.

State championships are meant to be cherished, but the reality is life moves on, seasons move on, and memories move into the here and now.

With the 2026 season now underway, the ‘here and now’ for Hillcrest is a little different.

“All new team and all new approach,” Gines said this week during an evening practice. “We’ve got different personnel and we’ve tried to decide our offense and defense based on the personnel we have this year, so it will look a little different for us.”

The Knights graduated four All-State players and return just one player with significant experience in All-State honorable mention Tycee Gines.

Freshmen and sophomores will play key roles on a roster that features just three seniors, including Tycee Gines. There will also be some juniors in the rotation.

The other two seniors are Trinity Allen, a transfer from Bonneville, and Annie Pebley.

Pebley is playing in her first varsity season after dealing with injuries.

Coach Gines noted that the team is young and inexperienced, so there will be a learning curve as the season heats up. The early-season matches have gone as expected, where the team looks good at times and then looks “like we haven’t even seen a volleyball” at other times, she said.

Gines, in her third year as head coach, said that the program has grown and has started to develop players through the Knights’ club system. Most of the current players, although young, have learned through playing club, so they understand the basics and what to expect as they move through JV and eventually the varsity level.

“There’s a culture here and we want to continue to keep the culture we’ve built and we hope that that culture moves forward,” she said.

As for expectations, improvement during a long season and gaining experience for the younger players top the list.

“It was a little rough last weekend,” Allen said as the Knights went 2-2 at the Peg Peterson tournament. “We’re learning to work a lot together and coming together as a team. I’m excited for the season.”

The 5A High Country Conference was brutally competitive last season with Hillcrest and Shelley reaching the state title match. Bonneville, one of the area’s premier programs, didn’t even make the state tournament.

With the addition of Pocatello and Century, the conference only gets stronger. The Thunder won 22 matches last season, but lost in a state play-in match.

Pebley, who’s sister Lily played on last year’s championship team, played volleyball growing up, but has been sidelined by injuries the past three seasons. She’s expected to have an impact as a middle blocker.

“It is different because last year we had a lot of seniors,” Tycee Gines said. “I also feel it’s awesome this year because even though there’s only three of us (seniors), we get to be a lot closer and lead together.”

As coach Gines noted, there is an expected learning curve as younger players get acclimated to varsity competition.

“It’s early in the season, so of course there are some early mistakes, but they’ve stepped up a lot,” Tycee Gines said of the younger players. “It’s honestly shown a lot about their character and their determination and the way they want to win, so they’re going to do anything they can to win.”

STORYLINES

-Did we mention how competitive the 5A High Country Conference is?

Idaho Falls is ranked No. 1 in this week’s state coaches’ poll and six of the eight teams in the conference have winning records.

Bonneville already has a win over 6A power Madison.

-Speaking of Madison, three Bobcat grads are now playing at Idaho State.

Aspen Boice is a freshman, as is Mia Walsh. Setter Nora Waddoups is a sophomore and was named to the Big Sky All-Tournament team last year.

-Butte County is two-time defending 2A state champion and finished last year on a 23-match win streak and were 31-2 overall. They opened 2026 with a 3-0 win over Hagerman.

Lyndsey Hymas takes over as head coach.

The Pirates return 2A State Player of the Yer Cambree Lyon, along with first-team All-State picks Madi Gamett and Addison Pancheri.

-Bear Lake reached last season’s 4A title match and finished runner-up.

The Bears, who won a state title in 2024, open their season this week at the Cokeville (Wy.) Invitational, and then play at the Border Wars Tournament in Evanston (Wy.).

Halle Wells and Avery Hunter were each named to the 4A All-State team last season.