South and Dimond secured spots in the state volleyball tournament by breezing to victories Thursday at the Cook Inlet Conference tournament at Service High.
Both teams registered three-set wins in winner's-bracket matches. South upended Chugiak 25-15, 25-19, 25-19, and Dimond trounced Bartlett 25-10, 25-21, 25-20.
The Wolverines and Lynx will meet at 7:30 p.m. Friday, with the winner advancing to Saturday's 6 p.m. championship match. The loser can finish no worse than third in a tournament that will send its top three teams to next week's Class 4A state tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center.
South's win over Chugiak was sparked by a balanced offense. Erin Doner, Kinsey Schilke and Cami Houser all pounded nine kills, with Schilke and Houser each getting in on three blocks and Doner coming up with 14 digs. Hope Todd added seven kills, and Megan Petersen had 20 assists and four aces.
In Dimond's win over Bartlett, Alissa Pili provided 17 kills and 12 digs and Hahni Johnson supplied 18 assists, 15 digs and four kills. The Lynx also got help from Reilly Plumhoff (25 digs, 3 aces), Mia Ekstrand (7 kills, 12 digs), Danae Stokes (8 kills) and Jaylin Osborne (16 assists).
Four other CIC teams will be fighting for survival Friday.
Bartlett will face Service in a 3:30 p.m. elimination game, and Chugiak will play West in a 5:30 p.m. elimination game. The winners of those matches will square off at 2 p.m. Saturday, with the winner joining Dimond and South at state.
Service and West stayed alive Wednesday with loser's-bracket wins over Eagle River and East, respectively. Service swept Eagle River 25-16, 25-19, 25-14, and West held off East 26-24, 25-21, 25-18.