Sports

South, Kodiak sail in different directions at 4A volleyball tourney

South and Kodiak cruised in opposite directions Thursday at the class 4A state volleyball tournament.

The defending champion Wolverines downed Colony 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-10) Thursday evening at the Alaska Airlines Center to advance into the winner's bracket final against a familiar foe, just a few hours after beating the bad-luck Bears in a first-round afternoon forfeit.

Kodiak coach Amy Willis said bad weather on "The Rock" forced the Bears to miss their flight Wednesday and hop the ferry to Homer. The 11-hour boat ride took longer than expected because of high seas, meaning the team didn't arrive on the Kenai Peninsula until 11 a.m. Friday. With a 220-mile drive between the Bears and their 1:15 p.m. match against South, Willis said she knew the Bears wouldn't make it.

"The girls were sad, but at least we're going to get to play tomorrow," she said.

Kodiak senior Isabelle "Izzy" Riina said the long boat ride was tough – but so are Kodiak kids.

"Nobody got sick," she said.

Riina said the Bears rested up on the overnight ferry ride and afternoon drive.

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"We're going to use it to our advantage," she said.

The Bears can still win the double-elimination tournament, but they'd need to win out, starting with a Friday match against West Valley.

"We've got to get our land legs under us," Willis said.

South players said the match that wasn't was a disappointment for everyone.

"It's really sad because we wanted to play them," said South's Shelby Little, who notched eight kills in South's thumping of the upstart Knights, the Northern Lights Conference's No. 3 seed, who upset Railbelt No. 1 West Valley in the opening round. "We have friends on Kodiak and feel bad for them. We really wish they could have been here."

Kayla Sims had 15 assists and three kills for South, which got six kills from Sierre Avery, five kills from Caitlin Sweeney and 22 digs from Aspen Avery.

Colony reached the second round with a 3-2 upset of West Valley in the opening round. The Wolfpack entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed from the Mid Alaska Conference.

South will face Dimond at 7 p.m. Friday night with a berth in the state championship match on the line. The loser can still advance to the final via the bottom half of the bracket.

Dimond coach Kim Lauwers said she'd like to stay on the top half of the bracket. The Lynx had to play eight sets on Thursday, downing Palmer in an 8 a.m. match and getting past a game East squad 3-1 in the afternoon.

"Move to the right, less matches," Lauwers said.

South and Dimond have combined to win the past nine 4A titles, with the Wolverines taking five and the Lynx grabbing four.

Against East, Cali Clark notched 12 kills and Rohyn Huss and Chrisalyn Johnson added 11 each as the Lynx fought off the Thunderbirds. East won the first set, Dimond won the second and the T-birds were winning 20-17 in the third when the Lynx turned the tide, finishing on an 8-1 run to seize control.

"They all stepped up," Lauwers said of her team.

East will face the West Valley-Kodiak winner Friday.

"I know we can play with anybody, it's just being steadier than they are," said East coach Jim Dooley, whose team got 16 kills from Taylor Noga and 10 kills from Kyla Liufua.

Every team remains alive in the tournament, and even the squad whose day went the worst remained optimistic following the opening day.

"We can still work our way up there," said Kodiak's Izzy Riina. "That's our ultimate goal."

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Contact Matt Tunseth at 257-4335 or mtunseth@alaskadispatch.com

ASAA First National Bank Alaska State Volleyball tournament

CLASS 4A

Thursday's results

First round

Dimond 3, Palmer 1 (25-23, 25-12, 21-25, 25-15)

East 3, Juneau 1 (25-19, 25-19, 22-25, 25-13)

Colony 3, West Valley 2 (16-25, 25-16, 23-25, 25-18, 15-13)

South 3, Kodiak 0 (forfeit)

Winners bracket

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Dimond 3, East 1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-21, 25-17)

South 3, Colony 0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-10)

Friday's matches

Losers bracket

11 a.m. -- Palmer vs. Juneau

1 p.m. -- West Valley vs. Kodiak

3 p.m. -- Colony vs. Palmer-Juneau winner

5 p.m. -- East vs. West Valley-Kodiak winner

Semifinal

7 p.m. -- Dimond vs. South-Colony winner

Matt Tunseth

Matt Tunseth is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and former editor of the Alaska Star.

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