High School Sports

It’s a four-peat for Dimond Lynx volleyball team

Try as they might for four years running, no one's put a dent in the volleyball dominance of the Dimond Lynx.

Bolstered by a senior-laden roster led by Mia Ekstrand, Alissa Pili and Madde Shockey, Dimond needed only 76 minutes to dispatch upstart West in three sets at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The 25-23, 25-23, 25-21 victory gave the Lynx their fourth consecutive Class 4A state championship and their 10th under longtime coach Kim Lauwers.

"A team of best friends, I trust them with my entire heart," said Ekstrand, who delivered the match-point kill from the middle of the net on her way to matching Pili with a team-high 12 kills. "We've felt a lot of pressure these last few years because it seemed not everyone wanted to see us do well.

"I'm so proud of the way we all were able to channel that pressure, put it on to the court and make it into something good. Not everyone who plays this game is capable of doing that."

Dimond won all four of this week's matches in three-set sweeps, beating Colony, South and West twice. The Lynx completed their campaign with a 23-0 match record against Alaska opponents.

Ekstrand's final kill landed untouched deep in West's side of the court. Within seconds, the Lynx piled joyously together on the gym floor. Then they formed a large circle with their fellow classmates — many with faces painted in Dimond maroon and gold — and sang the school's fight song.

ADVERTISEMENT

Pili, one of Dimond's 10 seniors, finished with 11 digs and continued to add to her impressive high school resume. She's a four-time champ in volleyball and a one-time champ in basketball, and she owns five individual state titles — three in shot put, one in discus and one in wrestling.

The 2017-18 Max Preps Sports national female athlete of the year, Pili will take her talents to the University of Southern California next year to play basketball for the Trojans.

Lynx junior Hahni Johnson totaled 24 assists and 10 digs, and Shockey added six kills and seven blocks.

West, playing in its first state tournament since it finished second in 2005, gave Dimond all it could handle, especially in the first two sets.

The Eagles, who last won a state championship in 1984, led the first set by as many as six points and registered the first four points of the second set while jumping to an early 11-7 advantage.

The title match capped an eventful stretch for the Eagles. First, they won a marathon five-set match over Bartlett in the Cook Inlet Conference tournament to earn third place and a state berth. Earlier Saturday, they slipped past South, the CIC's second-best team most of the season, in five sets to reach the finale, losing powerful senior outside hitter Alize Taliauli to injury in the process.

"Like most teams, we battled a lot of different injuries and played with a lot of different lineups," said West coach April Stahl. "It means the world to me to see the way this team trusted its coaches and each other to come out and accomplish all of this.

"It's huge."

The Eagles received huge contributions from seniors Brooke Dexter and Kelsey Ross and should have a bright future with the likes of freshman Hazel Allen in their lineup for the next few seasons.

Ekstrand was more than happy to credit West on its state tournament run.

"West always plays strong against us," she said. "They have a really big blockers and know how to keep us out of systems. They didn't let us come out super strong and we kind of had to chase ourselves.

"Finding a way to win against that team felt really good."

So does leaving a legacy. Dimond is the third team in Alaska history to win four straight state titles, joining Service (1989-1992) and Valdez (2001-2004).

Ekstrand credited Lauwers for the success. Lauwers has been Dimond's coach for 29 seasons, which she sandwiched around her stint as the head coach at UAA, where she coached Stahl in the late 1990s.

"We had some great former players to look up to and I hope future Lynx look up to us," Ekstrand said. "All of us have one of the best coaches anyone could ever ask for in the entire state.

"Always listen to Lauwers. Every idea or suggestion she has, take it and utilize it because she's a wise woman."

ASAA/First National Bank Class 4A volleyball championships

ADVERTISEMENT

Saturday's results

Consolation semifinal — West def. South, 25-17, 25-14, 19-25, 17-25, 15-13

Championship — Dimond def. West, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21

All-tournament team

Alissa Pili, Dimond
Audrey Welling, Thunder Mountain
Brooke Dexter, Thunder Mountain
Erin Doner, South
Danika Brown, West
Hahni Johnson, Dimond
Hallee Yundt, Colony
Isabel List, Colony
Ituau Tuisaula, Soldotna
Kelsey Ross, West
Kylie Hurd, South
Reilly Plumhoff, Dimond

Matt Nevala

Matt Nevala co-hosts “The Sports Guys” radio show, Saturdays at 11 a.m. on KHAR AM 590 and FM 96.7 (@cbssports590). Find him on social media at @MNevala9.

ADVERTISEMENT