In Pocatello’s last three games, a habit has formed.

    Well, two habits really. First, the Indians win but only after seemingly letting down in the second or third set.

    It happened again Wednesday night in the Palace.

    The Indians defeated the Blackfoot Broncos 25-19, 21-25, 25-10, 25-10, and improved to 4-2 in the 4A Fifth/Sixth District. But the victory only came after a let down in the second set.

    Even with the wins, though, Pocatello head coach Kolay Sutton does not want to see any kind of pattern forming that involves routinely dropping the second or third sets.

    “I hope that it’s not a habit, but it’s not pretty for sure,” she said. “I can’t complain that they’re coming back in game three to play hard. But I wish it was in game two.

    “I talked to them tonight and said for the rest of the season that game two is going to kill you if you keep doing that.”

    In front of a large crowd on senior night, the Indians did respond after dropping the second game. Powered by Dana Drecksel’s 10 kills and five blocks, Pocatello rolled in the final sets.

    Drecksel was not the only hitter that found a groove against the Broncos. Alissa Holmes chipped in eight kills and Alicia Jenkins finished with six.

    “My hitters are doing a really good job, and that’s something we struggled with early in the season,” Sutton said. ... “In the last two weeks, the hitters have stepped up with more confidence and more aggressiveness.

    “We’ve been focusing on it a lot in practice.”

    The Indians did not respond in the second set, which, in part, was because the Broncos found something that worked.

    “They decided to play the game of volleyball,” said Blackfoot head coach Lorin Lilya. “I have no explanation for it. They served tough in the second set. The rest of the games, we didn’t serve well.”

    The Broncos’ struggled to maintain any kind of consistent play.

    “I see the improvement of skills. I see the improvement in movement, but the desire to win is not there,” Lilya said. “I mean, the skills and everything are there. We just don’t have that killer instinct, that killer desire.”

    Lilya has striven to find the right note with his squad, but finding and cultivating a cutthroat attitude has been difficult.

    “You can teach the skills. You can teach them to hit. You can teach them all those things, but that desire you can’t teach,” Lilya said. “It has to come from within.”

    Blackfoot hosts Bonneville Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

    Pocatello travels to Rigby Tuesday and plays at 7:30 p.m.