Colony edges Juneau in slamfest

Filled with pounding shots across the net, great blocking, and incredible hustle to dig out sure kills, even Hollywood could not have scripted a more dramatic volleyball match than the one played between Colony and Juneau Thursday night at Colony High School.

After winning the first two games, then losing the next two, the Knights prevailed in game five to take an exhausting match by scores of 16-14, 15-6, 15-17, 8-15, and 15-12. Very few errors were committed by either team, with most of the points and side outs coming from excellent hitting.

"The girls mature a lot playing good teams like this," said Colony coach Bryce Ray. "They certainly did tonight."

Colony opened the first game by quickly gaining a 10-4 advantage, then looked to close out the game after adding four more to increase the lead to 14-4. Juneau started a methodical comeback by finding holes on Colony's court and taking advantage of Knight miscues to eventually tie the game at 14-14.

With the score tied, Colony earned a side out to get back the serve. Stephanie Deml, Colony's intimidating middle hitter, then took charge of the game by slamming an unstoppable shot onto Juneau's side for one point then blocked a Juneau slam for another to give Colony a 16-14 victory in the first game.

"We knew they wouldn't give up the game," said Deml. "We just had to keep up our intensity."

After an early battle and exchange of points in the second game, Colony charged ahead to a 12-6 lead behind the great setting of Zeenie Preston and the relentless hitting of Deml and Chelayne Dukart. Deml had 28 kills in the match.

Preston set up Colony hitters to perfection throughout the match, racking up 31 assists.

This time, Colony left no opportunity for Juneau to climb back in the game, continuing to attack until Deml finished the game at 15-6 with a powerful shot on the right side of Juneau's court that went untouched.

Both teams exchanged the lead throughout the third game, with each side swapping heavy hits and blocking shots at the net. Colony worked its way back from an early 5-2 deficit to take the lead 6-5 when Lindsey Krupa dunked a lazy Juneau return for point.

Colony later moved to 8-5 when a Deml rocket ricocheted off the head of a Juneau player attempting to make the dig. Coincidentally, Deml repeated the scene moments later with the same player. An apologetic look from Deml showed that both hits were unintentional, but they demonstrated it was a bad night to get in front of a Deml slam.

Faced with a possible sweep, Juneau regrouped to tie the score at 10-10 and moved to a 14-11 lead.

The Knights charged again to take the 15-14 lead behind outstanding saves by McKenzy Menard, Dukart, and Krupa to keep volleys alive for Colony returns. Dukart totaled 32 digs in the match.

Juneau returned with its own surge to take three straight points for the win and extend the match.

The third game seemed to take steam out of the Colony charge to begin the fourth game, while Juneau's intensity rose. Juneau moved to an 11-4 lead before Colony rallied. Colony was able to close the gap to 12-8, but Juneau quickly closed out the game 15-8 to force a fifth game.

"I preach to the girls that volleyball is a skill, not an emotion," said Ray. "Sometimes they drift to the emotional side."

At the start of the fifth game, earlier smiles on the faces of both teams turned to expressions of concern under the pressure of the final game to decide the match.

Colony took an early 4-2 lead but Juneau scored four straight points with great digs and ball placement. With Colony down 6-4, Deml took over at center net, slamming three straight shots for points and tipping another to give Colony the advantage 8-6.

With Juneau serving down 11-8, Krupa took a cross-court set from Preston and crushed it between three Juneau players who converged with no avail for a side out.

Colony extended the lead to 14-8 off shots from Krupa and Dukart. Krupa and Dukart each had 10 kills in the match.

The undying tenacity of Juneau helped the Bears close the gap to 14-12 with pounding shots.

Colony regained the serve and tallied its final point when a Dukart slam was blocked at the net and fell harmlessly out of bounds. Colony won the game 15-12 to take the thrilling five-game match.

Since the beginning of the season, Ray has talked about this season being a rebuilding year for the Colony volleyball program.

Colony's performance against a very good Juneau team may go to show that Colony is now ready to compete.