Youth on full display as Blackfoot avoids reverse sweep, beats Pocatello on the road

POCATELLO — Now part of the same conference, the Blackfoot Broncos and Pocatello Thunder will regularly see each other for all-important conference showdowns going forward.

Highlighted by the play of a handful of underclassmen Tuesday night at Pocatello High School, the Broncos and Thunder offered a preview of what could well be a very scintillating rivalry for years to come.

Led by freshman Lucy Tuia, the Thunder (9-4, 1-1) picked themselves off the mat after dropping the first two sets and forced a fifth set. But the Broncos (10-2, 3-0), behind sophomores Addie Arave and Keslyn Reid, answered the bell as well, overcoming a 13-11 disadvantage in the final set to score the final four points and take a 3-2 victory.

Pocatello held an advantage throughout the first set, but wasted three set-points. Arave, with one kill, and Reid, with a block and an ace, scored the final three points of the set for a 27-25 win.

After falling behind early in the second set, the Broncos rallied for the lead then coasted to a 25-16 win, which included four Arave aces — including the last two points.

Two sets in, Pocatello’s struggles stemmed from problems in serve receive.

Nine of Blackfoot’s 52 points had came on aces, with several additional bad passes resulting in free balls thrown over the net back to Blackfoot.

But the Thunder figured out their serve-receive problems midway through the third set, which they won 25-20, with Tuia leading again. Pocatello did the same in the fourth set, stunning Blackfoot 25-19 to take all the momentum into the fifth.

While the youngsters played starring roles on either side of the court, both teams also had veterans to lean on in pressure situations.

Pocatello senior Lainey Rogers was solid opposite Tuia, finishing the match with 14 kills and two aces, and junior Taylee Silcock offered both offense and defense, tallying eight kills and four blocks.

Blackfoot junior Presley Martin supplanted Arave and Reid with 11 kills.

The Thunder parlayed their momentum in the fifth into a 13-11 lead, forcing a Bronco timeout. Whatever advice head coach Chelsey Arave gave her team during that timeout was exactly what they needed to hear, though, with Blackfoot scoring the next four points — including a block and match-point kill from Reid — for a 15-11 win.

Tuia led all players with 24 kills. She added four blocks to her strong performance.

Not to be outdone, Arave finished with 18 kills and four aces, with Reid adding nine kills, four blocks and an ace.

Now riding an eight-match winning streak, the Broncos will be back on the court Thursday, when they host the Sugar-Salem Diggers (5-7, 1-0).

The Thunder, who have now lost three of their last four matches, will be at home again Thursday, hosting the cross-town rival Century Diamondbacks (1-9, 0-3).