Steven Murillo

Staff Writer

A town like Pocatello is made up of more than just buildings and bridges, homes and roads.  It is made up of real people who lead unique lives and must work hard for the assurance of their stability. 

It isn’t easy to make it in Pocatello let alone be champion of anything.

To become a master in your particular field is something necessary when you face competition and elimination on a grand scale.

The students playing volleyball at ISU and living in Pocatello prove something more than just natural development:  they defy the odds.

People don’t say it but it is reflected in the attitudes of many in our town that there is a curse hanging over us, preventing us from rising to greater success beyond just Idaho.

The team is like a candle light in a dark place for those of us looking for hope.  It shows that it can be done, even in a small mountain city with less abundance and riches than other American communities. 

For those of us who struggle and work so very hard in this town to make a living and succeed, volleyball’s victory inspires.

The volleyball players here have achieved something unusual, which in their field, was doubted by many. 

They have faced the doubt that we all do in Pocatello, but they decided to find a way through it. 

They give their whole-hearted effort in their journey to mastery and it shows.  They fight for their teammates the way a real team should. 

“Your team is what makes it the best, that aspect is really strong and I wouldn’t trade it at all to have gone to a different big school” said Kylee Sessions. 

As captain, she is leading her teammates to greater success: teammates like Tressa Lyman, who is making history this year for individual statistics, and Hailey Farrer who is making big progress as a talent and court presence, and is creating problems for opposing teams.

It isn’t just that they have won a conference championship and had been whisked away to Hawaii for a higher challenge. It is that they have reached a level of success in their field and as individuals, where the ISU population truly believes in them. 

Seeing Whitney Bartschi-Harrington lay on attack after attack, in a powerful style that appears unstoppable when on point tells of quality.

And they have found their consistency of character and attitude as they have shown in their recent victories. 

“It was so cool, it was like an unreal experience,” Alydia Fields-Grimm said of the team’s excursion to Hawaii for the NCAA tournament last year.  The trip was the climax and reward of a winning season. 

They learned of the announcement about their selection to the national tournament while celebrating at Buffalo Wild Wings.

People show up to the home games and support their winning volleyball team with great enthusiasm. 

“The team building even outside of practice comes very naturally “ said Fields-Grimm.

While playing on average two games a week during the fall season the players are often away from campus and traveling America. 

The travel is not all stress free though.

“It’s hard because you miss school a lot” said Field-Grimm. 

They may be missing some of the campus life and classes at times but “we have so much fun, it’s like hanging out with family,” Fields-Grimm added.

The ISU volleyball team mostly flies on jets to their away games across the country however Sessions and Fields-Grimm both expressed that their favorite games are home games because “the friends and family come and its great fun in our gym,” according to Fields-Grimm.

Most of the players from the conference champion team last year are returning except one.    

They hadn’t won a conference title since back in the 80s. 

This was no small feat for the Bengal volleyball squad, as the odds were against them to succeed where previous teams and generations had failed. 

This team has something special going now that it continues into a new season. 

The weight of high expectations “is motivating,” said coach Chad Teichert. 

This year will be exciting to see what is possible for the team.

The Bengals played their way to convincing victories over the Montana State Bobcats and Weber State Wildcats last week. 

As the crowd stands for game point, the tension builds as the ball bounces from hand to hand and side to side.  Once the whole crowd is silent in anticipation, sophomore Bailey Bars rises to hit a kill that brings the building to an uproar. 

The ball could have been a bullet shot from a rifle that landed precisely on the edge of the playable zone of the court, as if to make a point that the skill level on this team is absolute. 

Game over, ISU wins.