Defending champs spoil Colony’s title hopes

ANCHORAGE — At least it was quick.

South Anchorage needed just three games to defeat Colony (25-17, 28-26, 25-20) and claim a third straight state class 4A volleyball title Saturday night in the finals of the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska State Volleyball Championships at West Anchorage High School.

“I think that we played strong,” Colony's Kristen Coan said following the match. “South played stronger.”

The key to Saturday's match was the second game, in which the Knights failed to capitalize on seven game points before letting the Wolverines take a 28-26 win.

“We just stopped talking,” Colony coach Amy Carter said of her team's second game collapse.

In a showdown between Alaska's top two hitters, South's Sarah Hibbert got the better of Colony's Hannah Curtis early on. Hibbert came out firing, with six kills to Curtis' four in the opening game as the Wolverines pulled away late for a 25-17 win.

But the Knights were on the verge of pulling even in the match when disaster struck in the second. Leading 24-19, Colony had six chances to score a game-winning point. They came up empty, as the Wolverines pulled even before a Curtis kill gave the Knights yet another game point. By that time, however, South had seized the momentum, and after Hibbert blocked a Curtis spike attempt, the Wolverines had held off a seventh game point.

“We just lost our focus and just kind of went downhill,” Curtis said.

South went on to win the game 28-26, effectively ending Colony's title hopes after less than an hour of volleyball.

Curtis said going up against South's front line — which featured two players taller than six feet tall — was a daunting challenge.

“Hitting against that huge block was really difficult for us,” she said.

Needing just one game to finish off the three-peat, South used an 11-5 run midway through the game to pull away, eventually winning 25-20.

“That shows the champions they are,” South head coach Judy Knecht said of her squad, which featured eight seniors. “They never doubted themselves.”

South's only loss of the season came at the hands of Northern Lights Conference champion Palmer at the West Spiketacular in September.

In Saturday night's other championship match, Cordova defeated Mt. Edgecumbe (22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 26-28, 15-8) to claim a third consecutive class 3A state title.

Curtis finished with 14 kills to lead Colony, while Allie Grazulis added nine. Desi Diselrod had 21 assists for the Knights, which were seeking the school's second state volleyball title, and also looking to avenge a three-game loss at the hands of the Wolverines in the first round of last year's tournament.

Hibbert led South with 12 kills on the match.

“This feels so good. I've had a great time with my team and it feels great to win a triple crown,” Hibbert said.

Hibbert said the Wolverines knew coming in that Colony had a strong squad, and the team wanted to make sure and take the match to the Knights from the beginning.

“We saw how they did against Dimond last night so we knew they'd come to play,” she said.

Despite the lopsided loss, Colony's Coan said the Knights were proud of their weekend run at state, a run that included a thrilling five-game win over Dimond in Friday's semifinals.

“We're all really proud of ourselves,” she said. “It would have been nice to come out with a win, but I think we had an awesome season.”

There were some tears on the Colony sidelines following the match, but even more smiles and hugs as the Colony players and coaches reflected on a 16-4 season that also included a regular-season Northern Lights Conference title and runner-up performance in the NLC tournament.

In between post-match hugs, coach Carter said the Knights' accomplishments can't be diminished by a loss in the final.

“I'm very proud of this group,” Carter said. “They played their hearts out all season. You can't ask for more.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com