3A power gets past Palmer in 5

PALMER — Palmer and Cordova, two of the state’s top volleyball teams, battled to the bitter end Thursday night at Palmer High School, with the class 3A Wolverines narrowly edging the Moose 15-11 in the decisive final game.

“We knew we were going to have our hands full,” Palmer coach Steve Reynolds said of the two-time defending 3A state champs.

Cordova’s Kelsey Hawley led all players with 25 kills for Cordova, while Palmer’s Nicole Kenney racked up 16 kills for the Moose and Geneva Ratcliffe added 13. Sarah Svedin led the Moose with 25 assists, while Colleen Bue had a game-high 30 digs.

Cordova won the first two games by identical 25-19 scores before the Moose forced a fifth game with 25-15, 27-25 wins of their own.

The Wolverines have reached the championship game at the 3A level in each of the past five seasons. They’re in good shape for a third consecutive title this season, and entered the match as one of just three undefeated teams in the state — and the only 3A team without a loss.

A traditional Northern Lights Conference power, Palmer entered Thursday’s clash having already wrapped up its NLC season with an impressive 7-3 record, and will likely enter the conference tournament as one of the top two seeds from the Northern Division. There, the Moose will look to keep alive a streak of nine consecutive state tourney appearances.

Reynolds said he was happy to play such a difficult foe with the NLC tournament just two weeks away.

“Of course I’d have liked to win, but I always like to play good, hard-nosed volleyball,” he said.