On Tuesday morning, when Skyline senior Sophie Anderson put pen to paper and finalized her commitment to play volleyball at Utah State Eastern, she felt relieved. Excited.

The area’s top high school athletes, coaches and teams were honored Monday night at the third annual Post Register Sports Stars Awards ceremony.

Some 14 months ago, before the coronavirus pandemic shook the world and everything still felt normal, Brenna Clyde liked her volleyball offers. Then an Idaho Falls junior, Clyde was enjoying a healthy collection of recruiting attention, especially because she still had another season to build on.

Rollover. Ejection. When those words are used to describe a car accident it’s often tragic.

Maybe one day Cami Dodson will reveal what she feeds her volleyball players at Sugar-Salem. Until then, she’ll keep stacking the accolades.

First team

When she tries, Sidney Parker can still remember the emotions, the mental toll it took to watch her best friend crumple to the ground with an injury that looked serious before any official diagnosis. It wasn’t just that Maddi Wilcox was in pain. It was also the opponent, the circumstances.

Rocky Mountain all-conference team

Maycee Pocock remembers it was at 11 a.m. She isn’t sure why, even six months later, but the time of the meeting sticks in her head. A member of Sugar-Salem’s yearbook staff, Pocock and five other students were called to the yearbook production room to meet with their advisor, Kim Copley.

High Country Conference Volleyball

As Thunder Ridge senior Paige Clark examined her options for playing collegiate volleyball, she had a couple criteria in mind: She likes Idaho Falls, so the school had to be close, but not too close. She had to gel with the coaches.

This year’s senior volleyball all-star match has been canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions, but the list of nominees to represent their schools has been released.

All-conference teams are selected by coaches

This season, nine area volleyball teams advanced to state. Results ranged from championships to quick exits, so check out the wrap-ups below for more detailed looks at how each team’s state trip unfolded.

Undefeated. By definition the state champion had to go undefeated to win the state volleyball title. But there’s a more impressive undefeated — undefeated in sets.

State Championship Volleyball Tournaments

Sunlight sparkled through the wide windows at Thunder Ridge's main gym, where the Titans were warming up for a Thursday practice, preparing to take on Timberline at the 5A state tournament on Friday. Players took turns practicing kills. Balls bounced left and right. The defending champs seem…

State volleyball is about to kick into full swing, and there are several storylines to follow. Our area includes seven teams headed to state tournaments, from Thunder Ridge to Mackay, which means it’s time to break down teams, their opponents and how they figure to fare.

There was a time, around a year ago to the date, when Thunder Ridge represented new challengers to the 5A field. The Titans’ school had existed for less than two years, so even though their volleyball program had secured a state appearance, the team was more underdog than favorite.

There’s a full slate of state playoffs and tournaments scheduled for the end of the week, but the Mountain Rivers Conference football teams already got a head start on the postseason action with Monday’s Kansas City tiebreaker.

Mackay volleyball coach Kashia Hale said dealing with COVID-19 was the longest two weeks of her life.

At Bonneville, the Bees' volleyball team captured the 4A District 6 tournament title with a 23-25, 25-18, 25-10, 25-17 win over Shelley in Thursday's championship match.

At Thunder Ridge, the Titans dispatched Rigby in the first round of the 5A district tournament, winning 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 24-26, 25-16).

Area volleyball teams brought home five of the six state championship trophies last year, a record haul that begs the question: Can eastern Idaho repeat its dominance on the volleyball courts in 2020?

At Rigby, Thunder Ridge girls soccer junior Sophie Mangum recorded a game-winning goal in overtime on a free kick, sending the Titans on in the loser's bracket of the 5A District 5-6 girls soccer tournament.

The only sound was the one nobody wanted to hear, a hush of voices that mushroomed over those in attendance for Thunder Ridge’s home volleyball matchup with Madison Thursday night. Bobcat outside hitter Maddi Wilcox crumpled to the ground with a knee injury early in the first set. Moments la…

At Thunder Ridge, the Bonneville girls soccer team downed Thunder Ridge 4-0 on Thursday.

At Hillcrest, Skyline took a 1-0 advantage into the half, but Johan Gaytan-Hernandez tied the game on an assist from Benson Bateman and Thomas Endsley netted the eventual 2-1 game winner for the Hillcrest boys soccer team on Wednesday..

At Shelley, Blackfoot boys soccer got hat tricks from two different players, easing past Shelley for a 9-2 road win.

At Madison, the Bobcats' volleyball team recorded an 8-0 weekend en route to a Battle of the Best tournament championship.

Idaho Falls, Idaho Fall's Rylee Sessions scored the game-winning goal off a cross by Alexis Adams late in the second half as the Tigers girls soccer team downed Rigby 1-0 on Thursday.

At Thunder Ridge, the Thunder Ridge girls soccer team celebrated senior night with a 1-1 draw Monday against Rigby.

The Thunder Ridge volleyball team posted a 10-1 record over the weekend, winning the Triple Threat Tournament with a victory over Eagle in the championship match on Saturday.

Few voices rang throughout an otherwise empty gym. The limited number of fans in attendance to watch Bonneville sweep Skyline Thursday night had exited some 30 minutes prior. One of the only people left was Bonneville coach Chantal McMurtrey, who took a seat at the end of a Skyline bleacher,…

So much about this Bonneville volleyball team is different from previous seasons. The Bees, who have either claimed a state title or come one match away in each of the past five years, return little of that experience this year. They rely on one senior to guide a collection of green players.

At Madison, the Thunder Ridge girls soccer team defeated Madison 1-0 to hand the Bobcats their first High Country Conference loss since 2015, according to coach Jason Lance.

At Blackfoot, Cooper Hanson posted two goals Wednesday and helped the Blackfoot boys soccer team ease past Hillcrest 4-1.

At Thunder Ridge, Paige Clark had 21 kills and Kendel Hone added 14 as the Thunder Ridge volleyball team held off Rigby 3-2 on Tuesday.

The Idaho Falls boys soccer team has made a smooth transition to 5A, entering the week 4-0-0 in conference play and 7-2 overall prior to Tuesday’s matchup with Thunder Ridge.

Tears welled in the eyes of Madison volleyball coach Meranda Maestas as she recalled the memory, which had just turned four hours old. In her team's opening match of the Bonneville Classic Saturday morning, a win over Fruitland, senior libero Charity Wilson went down with what turned out to …

At Blackfoot, Frankie Garcia scored three goals and Misa Reyna and Manny Bartolo each added a score as the Blackfoot boys soccer team downed Skyline 5-2 on Thursday.

At Shelley, Johan Gaytan-Hernandez scored twice and Thomas Endsley and Bronson Taylor added goals as the Hillcrest boys soccer team downed Shelley 4-0 on Wednesday.

The Bonneville Volleyball Classic Tournament is scheduled for Friday and Saturday.

At Skyline, Junior Soto connected on the game-winning goal with 47 seconds left, lifting the Idaho Falls boys soccer team to a 4-3 win over the Grizzlies in the Emotion Cup.

At the Idaho Falls Soccer Complex, Junior Soto and Jojo Ruiz-Soto tallied two goals apiece, helping the Idaho Falls boys soccer team cruise to a 7-0 win over Highland on Thursday.

The Bonneville volleyball team remained unbeaten, downing Highland 3-0 and taking down defending 5A state champion Thunder Ridge 3-1 on Tuesday.

Cross-country

At Rexburg, Frankie Garcia scored twice and Dominic Sanchez added a goal as the Blackfoot boys soccer team improved to 4-0-0 with a 3-1 win Thursday at Madison.

At Pocatello, the Bonneville volleyball team remained unbeaten on the season, sweeping Century and Pocatello on Tuesday.

At Thunder Ridge, the Thunder Ridge girls soccer team opened the season with a 2-1 win over Shelley on Thursday. Willow Hurley scored in the third minute off an assist from Kelcie Peterson, and Olivia Christensen netted the game-winner unassisted in the 77th minute.

At Blackfoot, Frankie Garcia scored both goals for Blackfoot (2-1-0) in Wednesday's 2-1 boys soccer victory over Idaho Falls, and has scored all three of Blackfoot's goals this season.

Last season added an exclamation point to the volleyball hotbed that is eastern Idaho.

The Idaho High School Activities Association released guidelines Thursday for the opening of the fall sports season.