A winning end

WASILLA — Each of the 12 players on the Palmer roster hit the court Saturday afternoon. But when it was time to notch the final points, Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds made sure his four seniors were on the floor.

And those four seniors — setter Jenna Arlow, outside hitters Morgan Morfe and Kasara Brandenburg, and middle blocker Kalene Smith — sealed a 3-1 (25-16, 25-19, 22-25, 25-13) win over the West Valley Wolfpack during the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships third-place match at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla.

“The final point together, that was really cool,” Morfe said. “(The seniors all) took leadership, we all took charge and worked hard. At different times we shined. Sometimes together, sometimes one took the lead.”

The final moments capped a terrific run for a senior class that helped the Moose win three straight Northern Lights Conference titles and finish 15-4 overall this season.

Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said the Moose followed the game plan — allow everyone to see playing time, but make sure the seniors are on the floor for the final stretch.

“We try to finish the season with everybody playing. Some of them don’t see the court a lot. They come with us, practice with us, but don’t see a lot of time on the court,” Reynolds said. “We try to get them all in there, but the other thing is we try to make sure all the seniors are on the court at the end.”

Reynolds said he tends to rotate seniors in and out more during the final match, but that’s something Morfe understood.

“Steve took me out of the game and said Elliot (Perkins), Cassidy (Giese) and Jessica (Cole) need to get in there. This will be them next year,” Morfe said.

The combination of talent — four seniors, three juniors and five sophomores — helped Palmer roll through the first two sets of the match and come within reach of sweeping the Wolfpack.

West Valley did steal a win in Game 3, using a late 7-0 run to come from behind and win the set 25-22. But Palmer took care of business in Game 4, and won the match to place third for the first time since 2007 and fourth time in Reynolds’ 12 years as Palmer’s head coach.

“I’m very happy with third,” said Reynolds, who has led Palmer to the state tourney in 11 of his 12 seasons on the Moose bench. “We talked about it before playing. To be in the top 3 in the state, we’ll certainly take that, and certainly be happy with that.”

Morfe said the Moose took pride in scoring Palmer’s highest finish in state since 2007 and giving themselves a chance to bounce back from a tough 3-0 loss to South Anchorage in the semifinals.

“We definitely wanted to redeem ourselves from yesterday,” Morfe said. “I’m very proud. I can honestly say we are the third best team.”

Palmer used its brand of volleyball — a game that emphasizes passing, serving and defense — to finish third.

“It’s a pass and serve game. Steve has drilled that in to us,” Morfe said.

And the Moose were once again led by the glue that brings it all together, senior setter Jenna Arlow.

“Our defense was fantastic, our serving was fantastic, and of course Jenna’s an amazing setter,” Morfe said.

Arlow, who was named the player of the match, led the Moose with 22 assists, six digs and four aces. Morfe chipped in 10 digs and four aces. Brandenburg finished with nine kills, and Smith collected four blocks.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.