The East T-birds fought their way into the winners bracket while South and Service made their opponents see double Wednesday at the Cook Inlet Conference volleyball tournament at Service High.
After losing the first set to West, East outlasted the Eagles 31-39 in the pivotal second set and went on to win the first-round match 22-25, 31-29, 25-21, 25-12.
"Oh my god, it was crazy," East coach Jim Dooley said. "I think both the West High coach and my blood pressure needed to be checked."
Taria Page's 20 kills and Taylor Noga's 18 led the T-birds, who got 17 digs from Yukina Lofthouse and six blocks from Daisy Page.
West racked up an astonishing 116 digs in what coach Mike Vincent called an "epic battle." Mia Keyser sparked the Eagles with 22 digs, eight kills and two blocks, Kia Hasson added 25 digs and Rosie Rush handed out 27 assists.
The victory gave East the final spot in the tournament's winners bracket. On Tuesday, South, Dimond and Chugiak each secured first-round wins to also advance.
South and Chugiak squared off in Wednesday's late match, a winners bracket affair that South dominated 25-22, 25-9, 25-12. The win gives South, the defending state champion, one of three state tournament berths up for grabs at the CIC tournament.
Service, meanwhile, stayed alive with a 25-17, 25-22, 25-9 win over Bartlett in an elimination match.
South and Service each got a boost from a pair of twins.
For South, Sierra Avery provided 10 kills and twin sister Aspen contributed 21 digs, while Danielle Clark handed out 24 assists and twin sister Kayla had 18 digs.
For Service, Morgan Christy ripped 13 kills and twin sister Megan tallied 21 assists and three aces, while twins Erin and Karisa Davis registered three kills apiece.
Of the four sets of twins, only the Clarks are identical, something that has kept South coach Judy Knecht guessing for four seasons. Knecht said that until she figured out that Danielle wears pink shoelaces and Kayla does not, she couldn't tell the two apart.
Also contributing for South was Kayla Sims, who sometimes plays as if there are two of her -- on Wednesday, she racked up 13 assists and 11 kills. Caitlin Sweeney added six kills and two blocks for the Wolverines.
Chugiak was led by Anna Ingraham (12 digs, 2 blocks), Samantha Cooper (15 digs) and Megan Meadows (3 kills, 2 blocks).
Besides the contributions from the Christy and Davis twins, East got 14 digs from Monique Mojica and fives aces from Emily Rosenfield.
CIC volleyball tournament
Service High
Wednesday's results
Winners bracket -- South 3, Chugiak 0 (25-22, 25-9, 25-12)
First round -- East 3, West 1 (22-25, 31-29, 25-21, 25-12)
Loser-out -- Service 3, Bartlett 0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-9)
Thursday's matches
4:30 p.m. -- West vs. Eagle River (loser out)
6:30 p.m. -- East vs. Dimond (winners bracket)ket)