CHS junior leads Knights in sweep of Wasilla

PALMER — Power doesn’t only come from a 6-foot hitter.

Want evidence?

Just watch 5-foot-9 outside hitter Ashley Turcotte.

The Colony junior smacked 10 kills and served a key string of points in the second game to lead Colony to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-12) win over rival Wasilla at Colony High School Friday.

Turcotte consistently ripped hits into the Wasilla defense, and serves just above the top of the net.

What’s Turcotte’s secret?

“She wants to win,” Colony head coach Amy Carter said after the victory.

Turcotte also showed a power that kept Wasilla on its heels.

“She’s strong. She has incredible reaction to the ball,” Carter said.

Turcotte sparked the Knights midway through the second game, and helped squash a Wasilla rally. The Warriors led 10-8 in Game 2, but Turcotte served seven straight points to help CHS take a 15-10 second-game lead.

Wasilla led by as many as three in Game 2. Turcotte took the ball with the Warriors leading 10-8. A Wasilla attacking error and a Zoe Headley kill tied the game at 10. Colony’s pushed its lead to five behind kills by Headley and Sophie Hall, and three Wasilla errors.

Turcotte served the key run, but was also part of a well-rounded attack that helped the Knights down the Warriors.

“My girls came out and played confidently tonight,” Carter said.

While Wasilla showed ability, the Knights never allowed the Warriors to grab any momentum in the contest.

“Wasilla’s a good team, we were just able to stay on top,” Carter said.

Turcotte led the Knights with 10 kills, eight digs and two aces. Sophie Hall added 10 kills. Mackenzie Everett chipped in 27 assists and four digs.

Amber Sizemore led the Warriors with eight kills. Aimee Bushnell collected 22 digs for WHS.

Everett also had a long run of serves, using it to help Colony build an early 10-0 run. The junior setter collected a pair of aces during the run, and Morgan Johnson had two kills during the 10-point stretch.

Wasilla ended the long Colony run with a Merit Paramo kill.

The Knights forced the two-match season series split with the win. Wasilla opened its 2013 season with a victory over Colony. Carter said it was nice to see her team rebound from the early-season loss to Wasilla and cap the regular season with a victory over the Warriors.

“It’s nice to see their improvement here, instead of just in practice,” Carter said.

Colony finished the regular season 4-6 in the Northern Lights Conference and will be the No. 4 seed of the conference championships, which starts Thursday in Soldotna. Wasilla (2-8) is the No. 5 seed. The seeding sets up a rematch between the Knights and the Warriors.

Soldotna (5-5) will host Kenai (1-9) in the other first-day match. Kodiak (10-0) and Palmer (8-2) each get first-round byes.

The complete schedule is expected to be released Monday.

Contact Jeremiah Bartz at 352-2273 or sports@frontiersman.com.