Fruitland High School Wins 4A State Volleyball Following 5-Set Battle

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Tonight was the thrilling end to the 4A Girl's State Volleyball Tournament with the number one seeded Bear Lake Bears taking on the number five seeded Fruitland Grizzlies.

The Fruitland Grizzlies are one of the state's most exciting teams to witness on the court. Standout outside Brooke Hardy was unstoppable tonight against Bear Lake's triple block. The Bear Lake defense struggled in the first two sets, dropping to both tips and kills from the Fruitland offense. Despite this, the Bears fought back up to 23 points and lost by two in the first set.

Set two was full of overpass kills on the Fruitland side as well as double blocks by Melany Branstiter and Eva Wall. Another kill by Hardy brings the Grizzlies to set point and they'll take the set 27-25.

Bear Lake had a substantial student section in the Mountain America center tonight, who didn't lose hope on their home team. The Bear Lake defense came to play by the third set, defensive specialist Paisley Lloyd racking up digs against Hardy and Wall. On the Bears side, standout outside KortLyn Skinner had several cross shot kills which would win Bear Lake the third set.

In the fourth, Fruitland fought back after being down by seven. The Grizzlies held off seven match points before the Bears finally took the set 25-23. Middle blocker Avery Hunter came up with several kills in this set.

In the tie-breaking fifth set, the Bears came out swinging and took the early lead 10-3. The Bears took this win with more offensive plays by Skinner and Halle Wells 15-8. This meant Game 15 of the state championship tournament bracket was necessary, as neither team took two losses throughout the tournament.

Fruitland ended up winning the championship game in two straight sets, ending their season 39-5 in the upset against the number one seeded Bear Lake.