One week ago from today, I had the sports experience of a lifetime.
I can honestly say that after two hours of driving, three and a half hours watching two volleyball matches with nine games and one state title berth at stake, there was no where I would have rather been last Wednesday night than Malad High School.
It was unbelievable. I’d be remiss if I didn’t take this space to relive the memories and retell the story.
Before the 2A Fifth District volleyball tournament, the Malad Dragons had not only never lost a match in district play this season but Malad hadn’t even dropped a game.
With the district tournament on their home turf, the Dragons were the overwhelming favorite to earn the district’s one — and only one — state tournament berth.
West Side, meanwhile, lost to the Dragons in four sets in their second game of the tournament, and after working their way through the loser’s bracket faced the daunting task of beating Malad not just once, but twice.
The defending state champions were a formidable foe, though, and the Pirates took the floor with a pugnacious attitude.
The best way to describe how West Side competed is to say that they played with an absolute abandon.
There are few sports like volleyball where one seemingly insignificant point can loom so large in a brief moment of time. After a Pirates kill — one, more often than not, from junior Casey Rich — players on the bench and court would explode with exuberance.
Those outbursts of energy, of pure unadulterated enthusiasm, rebounded off the walls of that cracker box gym, and all I could do was soak it in.
I call Malad’s gym a cracker box in the most affectionate way possible because the Dragons and Pirates were two characters in this match, but what truly set the experience apart was the stage it took place in.
Malad’s gym isn’t new. But its age, lack of glamour and low ceiling, requiring players to repeatedly adjust their play mid-volley after the ball ricocheted off it, are all factors that heightened the experience.
That gym — they call it the Dragon Dungeon — has character. Countless banners line the walls signifying Malad’s athletic prowess from days since past and a few from not so long ago.
One banner over the entrance said the boys’ basketball team won 68 straight games there from 1991-1997.
Fans of Malad could only hope that kind of home-court advantage could help boost their volleyball team, because the Pirates — who had enough people make the 31-mile trip from Dayton that they occupied half the seating — beat the Dragons in five sets the first match.
Entering the night, Malad, from an outsider’s perspective, was all but guaranteed a district championship. A team that hadn’t lost all season had to lose twice at home.
But all of the sudden, West Side’s varsity roster, packed with seniors and juniors, seemed to possess an advantage over Malad’s starting six that included one freshman, two sophomores, two juniors and one senior.
The Dragons, however, led by senior Heidi Hannah, junior Brooke Sorensen and sophomore Aubrey King showed some grit of their own — something they had been building on since last season.
"West Side beat us last year in the district tournament,” said Malad head coach Camie Tripp. “Hard fought again, much like this. Then they went to state and won. For us that was just like our wake-up call. That’s how close we were.”
I don’t know if it was home-court advantage, King’s brilliant play or fate, but Malad won the first two games of the championship match, winner take all 27-25, 28-26.
After dropping the third game, Malad finally finished off West Side in the fourth set.
By the end, I was exhausted. I was exhilarated for the Dragons and crestfallen for the Pirates.
Now, in their first game of 3A state tournament Friday at Hillcrest High School, Malad plays Grangeville at 10 a.m.
I only wish West Side could join them.
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