Fast start

PALMER — For a portion of her team’s match against Palmer Tuesday night, Colony’s Brittany Brown sat in her seat on the sideline with an ice bag planted firmly on her right shoulder.

But when the ice bag came off and the senior hit the court, Brown was on fire.

The senior outside hitter collected 19 kills to lead Colony to a 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 16-25, 15-12) win over the Moose at Colony High School.

“It’s kind of one of those things you forget about,” said Brown, who has suffered from a bit of tendantis in her shoulder. “It’s something I have to deal with, but the ice helps.”

And the ice did help.

Brown notched eight of her match-high 19 kills during the third game to help the Knights take the lead. And in the fifth, Colony recorded three of their final four points with a Brown kill.

“She’s stepping up and being real good in clutch situations,” Colony head coach Amy Carter said of Brown, who spent the last two seasons on the junior varsity squad.

Brown’s work helped Colony come from behind at several points during the match. Palmer took the first game of the match, and after Colony won game No. 2, the Moose threatened to re-take the lead again in the third.

The Moose led 17-13 at one point during the third game, but Brown helped swing the momentum when she followed a Tess Forstner kill with two kills of her own.

Late in the third game, Brown sent a hard shot into the corner of Palmer’s back row to tie the score at 21. From there, after senior Kelsey Hediger and junior Kathryn Mayer combined for a Colony block, Brown earned two of the Knights’ final three points via the kill to help the Knights claim the victory.

After spening part of the fifth game with the ice bag, Brown returned to the court to help the Knights come from behind once agian.

The Moose, powered by senior Nicole Cherrier’s two blocks, service ace and kill, took an 8-4 lead midway through the fifth game. But Brown and fellow senior Sierra Hodgson helped the Knights battle back.

Hodgson, one of two Colony captains, recorded three of Colony’s four points with kills during a crucial stretch during the fifth, and tied the game at 9 with a service ace that she tucked just inside the back line.

“Sierra stepped up and decided she was going to take over,” Carter said of Hodgson, who finished with 18 kills and a match-high 20 digs.

Brown helped cap the match for the Knights with three kills during the final four points of the game.

Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said a few key Colony kills and a handful of Palmer errors contributed to the Knights’ final stretch.

“They had a nice little run at the expense of us,” Reynolds said. “Four or five plays in a row we didn’t control it well on our side. We had some errors, and that’s all it took for the momentum to shift in their favorite.”

Despite the loss, Reynolds said he was pleased with the effort of his squad during a tough five-game match to start the season.

“It was a great match. There were a lot of good things,” Reynolds said. “We learned a lot it.”

Both Valley programs — which typically finish among the top teams in the Northern Lights Conference each year — are fielding very different teams than a year ago. Colony lost seven seniors to graduation and Palmer lost five. Considering that, Reynolds was a little surprised the match did come to five games.

“Whoever won, I thought it would be a little more decicisve,” Reynolds said.

Palmer used a five-point run to secure a 25-16 win in the fourth game and force a fifth and deciding game.

Senior Danielle Pempek posted consecutive aces at the end of the fourth game.

Cherrier led the Moose with 11 kills in the match. Sophomore Jenna Arlo recorded 18 assists and 14 digs.

T-Birds get past Moose

PALMER — The East Anchorage Thunderbirds notched a 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-18) nonconfernece win over the Palmer Moose at Palmer High School on Thursday.

Knights third,

Moose fourth

CHUGIAK — Colony and Palmer finished third and fourth respectively in the Chugiak Invitational volleyball tournament at Chugiak High School last week.

South Anchorage swept the host Mustangs during a three-game title match to win the 10-team tourney.

Knights sweep West

PALMER — Sierra Hodgson recorded 13 kills and 12 digs to lead Colony to a 3-0 (26-24, 25-21, 25-20) nonconference win over the West Anchorage Eagles at Colony High School on Thursday.

Siobhan Johansen posted 36 assists and six digs, while Brittany Brown added nine kills and four digs.

Bears sweep Warriors

KODIAK — The Kodiak Bears quickly moved to 2-0 in NLC play with a two-match sweep of Wasilla at Kodiak High School last week.

Kodiak opened the series with a 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 25-17, 25-21) win.

Wasilla’s highlight was a 13-2 run that led to the Warriors’ win during the second game of the match.

The following afternoon, Wasilla won the first game of the match 25-22, but was forced to settle for the 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 25-19, 25-23) loss.

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