Bears score volleyball sweep of Moose

PALMER — Regardless of what the Palmer Moose could do early in the set, Kodiak managed to find away to pull ahead.

Kodiak scored a 3-0 (25-20, 28-26, 26-24) win over the Moose Friday at Palmer High School.

“There’s a reason Kodiak is 9-0,” Palmer head coach Jayme DeHart said after the match Friday.

Kalameli Matautia led the Bears with 12 kills and 19 digs in the win. Richelle Walker collected 12 kills and three blocks. Mica Rinna finished with eight kills and four aces.

Holly Corbin and Sammy Buresh led Palmer with eight kills each. Carly Venzke added 13 digs.

Kodiak followed with a 3-0 another sweep of Palmer Saturday.

With the wins, Kodiak finished 10-0 in Northern Lights Conference regular season play. The Bears own the top seed in the NLC Championships, which start Thursday in Kenai. Wasilla (7-3) clinched the second seed with its win over Palmer early in the week. The Bears and Warriors each receive a first-round bye with their top-2 finish.

Despite a loss to Kenai Friday, Soldotna (5-5) enters the tournament seeded fourth. Palmer (4-6), Kenai (3-7) and Colony (1-9) are seeded fourth, fifth and sixth.

Palmer will play host Kenai in the first round of the NLC tournament. The Knights draw the Stars.

For a complete tournament schedule, see the Tuesday edition of the Frontiersman.