Blocked

WASILLA — West Valley doesn’t have a player taller than 5-foot-10 on its 2009 roster. But on Thursday, the Wolfpack played like they have a front line full of 6-footers.

“We do have a little bit of height, and I don’t even think it’s that much height, but what they do is they jump very, very well,” West Valley head coach Dave Cox said after his team’s 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 25-23) win over the Wasilla Warriors at Wasilla High School.

Senior Shelby Solomon epitomized that deceptive height up front as she led the Wolfpack to the nonconference victory over the Warriors. The 5-foot-8 Solomon posted a match-high 12 total blocks and added a team-high seven kills.

“She just jumps,” Cox said. “That’s her big thing.”

Sophomore Julie Mackey added six kills and six blocks for the Wolfpack.

“They’ve got middle hitting that’s really strong,” Wasilla head coach Claudia Farias-Pinard said.

While West Valley used its big block to propel itself to the win over the Warriors, Farias-Pinard felt her squad simply couldn’t recover from a slow start.

“We had a bad beginning, and it wasn’t until (later in the match) when we started getting aggressive,” Farias-Pinard said of her team, which dropped to 7-5 this season.

West Valley jumped out to a 12-5 lead during the first set of the match, and despite a seven-point Wasilla run midway through, the Wolfpack was able to hold on and win the first game.

Powered by an early 9-3 run, in which Warrior hitters Sariah Tuisaula and Aryn Crane combined for five kills, and a late six-point push, Wasilla was able to take the second set of the match.

The Warriors used the early run to take an 11-6 lead, but thanks in part to that big block, the Wolfpack came back to tie the score at 14.

With the Warriors down 17-16, Tuisaula posted consecutive kills to give Wasilla the one-point advantage. Senior Kaitlin Pevan knocked a hard shot down the sideline to complete a six-point run and help the Warriors win the second game of the match.

After winning the third game, West Valley started the fourth set with a 7-3 run. The Wolfpack led by as much as seven points late, but Wasilla fought back.

Tuisaula posted three of her match-high 18 kills during a four-point stretch to cut West Valley’s advantage to 21-18, and the sophomore followed a Pevan kill with a service ace to bring the score to 22-21.

But thanks to a match-saving dig by senior Annie Vohden and a final kill from senior Jamie Sawchuck, the Wolfpack were able to cap a long volley with the game-deciding point.

“They tried to get back,” Farias-Pinard said of her team’s late rally.

Crane added 12 kills to Tuisaula’s 18. Pevan finished with 10 kills in the match.

Setters Rebecca Stella and April Gehring combined for 36 assists.

The Wolfpack, which dropped a 3-0 decision to Palmer on Wednesday, concludes a three-day tour of the Valley with a Mid-Alaska Conference match at Houston at 5 p.m. tonight.

Wasilla hosts another Interior opponent, North Pole, tonight at 6:30 p.m. The match will also feature the team’s senior night.

The Warriors cap Northern Lights Conference play at Colony Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Colony sweeps

North Pole

PALMER — The Colony Knights scored a 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-7) sweep of the North Pole Patriots Thursday at Colony High School.

Brittany Brown and Shellina Irwin collected nine kills each.

Katie Gonski led the Knights with 11 digs.

Colony hosts Kodiak in NLC action tonight at 6:30 p.m. at CHS.

Lathrop tops Houston

HOUSTON — Lathrop scored a 4-1 ( 25-12, 25-12, 16-25, 25-12) Mid-Alaska Conference win over the Houston Hawks at Houston High School on Thursday.

Haley Kennedy led the Malemutes with 23 assists and six aces in the match.

Houston continues Mid-Alaska play against West Valley today at 5 p.m. at HHS.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.