IDAHO FALLS (KIFI) – Idaho’s volleyball state tournament stage is set and fully built.
The 5A and 6A volleyball championships are being held at the Mountain America Center in Idaho Falls for the first time. Thursday afternoon’s opening contests will not only be arena’s first-ever volleyball matches, but its first-ever high school competition.
“One of the bucket list items when we built this facility was high school activities,” Mountain America Center general manager Erik Hudson explained.
It’s a bucket list item he can finally cross off.
“It started, actually, in summer of 2022,” Hudson said, “when we toured the IHSAA through the facility while it was under construction.”
The arena still felt like it Wednesday afternoon. It took a 20-person team about eight hours to assemble the hardwood court.
“We had Endurocross in here this week as well,” Hudson said. “So, y’know, four days ago, there was 1,100 yards of dirt on the floor. We had the building professionally cleaned. We had the conversion crew come in, take the plywood out, and reset the floor.”
“It’s our first time doing a sport,” he admitted. “It’s a different dynamic. It’s a different fanbase. So we’re gonna learn a lot this year.”
However, Hudson said he and his staff are not nervous in the slightest.
“Whether it’s a ticketed concert or a hockey game or a basketball game, we’ve done this a thousand times,” he explained. “And we just need to hone our process for volleyball, too.”
Hudson, though, stressed that the focus should not be on the arena, but on the competition it’s hosting.
“For these athletes, it might be the pinnacle of their athletic careers,” he said. “And we want to make a special memory for them.”
“I think the girls that are participating will remember this for a very long time,” Hudson added.
This may be the first high school competition at the arena, but it will not be the last. The Mountain America Center will also be hosting cheer and dance state championships, in addition to volleyball, starting in 2026.
