Less than a day after beating reigning 5A state champion Idaho Falls, the Century High School volleyball team took to the floor to play a pair of matches against Jerome and Burley.

    There appeared to be a little hangover from Tuesday night’s big win in Idaho Falls as the Diamondbacks struggled to find any rhythm offensively.

    Jerome held a lead as big a four points mid-way through the opening set. The two teams battled to a 17-17 score before the Diamondbacks Ann Clappier began to assert her dominance at the net.

    The Diamondbacks took down Jerome 25-17, 25-9, 25-18.

    The senior middle blocker made quick work on any ball that came her way on the offensive end of the net. While on defense , Clappier always seemed to be in the right place at the right time to block a spike from one of the Jerome outside hitters.

    After transferring from Pocatello High over the summer, the 6-foot-1 inch Clappier has already found herself as a key piece of a Diamondbacks team that is looking for its third consecutive 4A state title.

    “She is a completely different player than she was last year,” Century head coach Pauline Thiros said of Clappier. “She has learned our system so quick. She is fast and strong and if we can get her the ball enough, she can put it down.”

    Clappier did a lot of putting it down against Jerome, finishing the match with 17 kills and five blocks.

    “I am impressed with her,” Thiros said. “She is a complete player and when we get Henny Hearn in with her in the middle, we are going to be tough.”

    Hearn missed both of Wednesday’s games while recovering from a broken thumb.

    Century had no problem in set two with Jerome building an 11-8 lead, before stringing together 14 consecutive points to lead 24-8, taking the set two points later.

    The Diamondbacks again got tested in set three but never lost the lead.

    Mental errors and misplayed balls allowed Jerome to pull within one point a couple of times and tie the score once, before the Diamondbacks pulled away late.

    After 30 minutes of waiting the Burley team arrived, after playing an earlier game against Pocatello.

    The short layoff appeared to have no affect on the Diamondbacks as they cruised to a straight sets win 25-3, 25-10, 25-11.

    Century libero Jacqueline Cuttlers served for the Diamondbacks in the opening 14 points of the match.

    Receiving the Century serve was a problem for Burley the entire match as the Diamondbacks recorded 15 service aces in three sets.

    After the big opening set victory Thiros rested some of her starters for the remainder of the match, allowing some of the other players on the team to get some quality playing time on the court.

    “I don’t think Kayla Ellis has ever sat out two sets in a row in a match before,” Thiros joked. “But it was good to get Micquel Blattner some time at outside hitter where she recorded five kills. It was just nice to be able to rest some of our players before a tough tournament this weekend.”

    Clappier added 16 kills in the match with Burley. Jennie Murrillo finished the night with a combined 11 kills. Ellis had a double-double in the match with Jerome finishing with 13 kills and 11 digs.

    Century (5-0), now heads into the Peg Peterson Invitational at Highland High School beginning Friday.

    “This is a good test for us to see where we are early in the season,” Thiros said. “We will be challenged. It will be interesting to see how we respond.”

    Pool play begins at Highland Friday at 3:30 p.m. Bracket play starts Saturday at Highland and Pocatello High Schools.