Colony dims Stars

PALMER — Amy Carter has been waiting for this match all season long. But after seeing her Knights battle through their fair share of struggles during the regular season, the Colony head coach watched her squad put together the upset of the first round of the Northern Lights Conference Championships.

Colony came back to win the final three games to upset the top-seeded Skyview Panthers 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-22) Thursday evening at Colony High.

“We were on tonight and they struggled a little,” Carter said. “It’s nice to be on this end, instead of the other end.”

Colony’s tandem of 6-foot middle hitters, Allison Leigh and Mary Klapperich, combined for 42 kills to help the Knights move forward in the semifinal round and ensure an all-North Division semifinals. The Knights will meet Kodiak tonight at 7 p.m. Valley rivals Palmer and Wasilla clash in the other semi at 5 p.m.

Colony faced adversity during the regular season, but Klapperich said the Knights have been working for the final two weeks of the year.

“We have been working so hard. We knew what we worked for in practice mattered at regions and state,” Klapperich said. “We knew no matter what our win-loss record was, we were going to bring it.”

And the Knights brought it.

After losing by a slim margin in Game 1, Colony jumped to a 5-0 lead in the second set and continued to gain momentum throughout.

Carter said she saw something different in her team Thursday. The spirited Knights played with fire in front a home court crowd that featured a raucous student section.

“We’ve played a lot of games with no emotion,” Carter said. “It was nice to have the emotion today.”

The Knights were also armed with the 6-foot-2 Leigh, who spread shots across the court as if she had a cannon attached to her right arm. Leigh finished with a match-high 26 kills, often placing the ball in the heart of the Panthers defense.

“We’ve been working on getting her to be more powerful,” Carter said.

Leigh started the match on fire, finishing with 10 kills in the first game alone. She continued in the second, using kills to score half of her team’s first six points. She recorded one of her three blocks to give the Knights a 7-4 lead in the second.

Klapperich added 16 kills and four blocks in the win.

The Knights were also able to prevent Skyview’s share of formidable hitters from getting on track. Senior Amanda McDowell led the Panthers with 14 kills. Marlee Cunningham added eight, and Holly Ramsell chipped in six.

Colony had to erase a significant deficit during the fourth set to prevent the match from going to a fifth game.

Sophomore Chayanne Laber posted a solo block to tie the score at 5 during Game 4, and helped spark an 8-1 Panthers run. McDowell and Cunningham each scored kills during the run, and Skyivew forced five Colony errors.

But the Knights came back and took a 17-16 lead on consecutive Klapperich kills. The junior split the defense to tie the score at 16, and gave the Knights the advantage when she found a spot in the back corner of the Skyview end. Skyivew would lead only once more in the match, at 22-21.

Colony is now a win away from the championship match and an automatic bid to the state tourney.

Skyview is still in the hunt for one of the NLC’s three bids, but must play through the consolation round. The Panthers face Homer today at 3 p.m.

Palmer 3, Kenai 0

PALMER — The defending NLC champion Palmer Moose quickly advanced to the semifinals with a decisive 3-0 (25-6, 25-13, 25-11) win over Kenai on Thursday.

The Moose, the NLC North’s top seed, face rival Wasilla today at 5 p.m.

Kodiak 3, Homer 1

PALMER — The Kodiak Bears advanced to the semifinals with a 3-1 (25-17, 25-13, 20-25, 25-14) win over the Homer Mariners on Thursday.

Kodiak will face host Colony tonight at 7 p.m.

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