HOLDING COURT

PALMER — Colony showed it can play with the best the Northern Lights Conference has to offer, but the Knights could only manage one win Thursday in a 3-1 loss to cross-town rival Palmer.

In a streaky match, the Moose showed how far solid defense and a strong serve can take a team, downing Colony 25-13, (25-23), 25-16 and 25-14 to remain undefeated in NLC play at 7-0, and 10-2 overall. It was an effort that left PHS head coach Steve Reynolds impressed.

“And I’m not easily impressed,” he said.

The difference in the match was his team’s ability to play solid defense and not allow Colony’s one-two punch of 6-foot hitters Allison Leigh and Mary Klaperich take over, Reynolds said.

“Volleyball, especially the high school game, so much of it is momentum,” the coach said. “If somebody has the momentum, everything goes their way for awhile. That was the case in the second game.”

That was when the Knights flipped a switch, taking over for an impressive win, led by Leigh, who had six of her match-high 22 kills and Klapperich, who had two blocks and four kills of her own. It was a turning point in the match for Colony after losing the first game and falling behind 6-1 early in the second.

The difference between winning one game and the match came down to consistency, said Colony head coach Amy Carter.

“In that second game, they decided to play,” she said. “We’re struggling with consistency still.”

She credited Palmer for finding its rhythm in the final two games.

“They play good defense, and we know that,” Carter said. “It’s just a matter of knowing that we had to attack more than one time, that it wasn’t just going to be one hit and it’s done, that it was coming back.”

An example of the consistency Carter was searching for was in play on the opposite side of the court for much of the night Thursday, where the Moose played solid defense and enjoyed success with the serve. That was especially true for senior Jenna Arlow, who served for strings of points in each game and tallied seven aces in the match.

“You see her string of serves there, that’s impressive,” Reynolds said. “It’s great to have somebody like her. She brings good senior leadership in general. She can go out there and perform at a high level consistently.”

Also key for Palmer was trying to steer the action away from Leigh and Klapperich, the coach said.

“Obviously, you don’t run crummy plays into the middle against them, that would be No. 1,” he said. “Mostly, though, it’s ball control, taking care of the ball on your own side. That first game was very nice. We looked good in that first game.”

That was when Arlow set the tone out of the gate, serving for five straight points and three aces to spot the Moose to a 6-0 lead. Colony closed that gap to trail 6-5 on the strength of three straight points served by Jordan Ertz. But the Moose would step on the gas again, pulling out to a 16-8 lead, then pulling away for the 25-13 win.

Along the way, Arlow dominated from behind the back line, serving for 10 points and five aces.

After the match, Arlow said her serve was feeling on, and was the result of hard work in practice. She also said Colony poses some unique challenges.

“We know Mary and Alison are really good hitters, so it was really key making sure we were scrappy on defense, making sure we were blocking a lot,” she said. “As a team, they’re really scrappy and can really pull it together at times, like in that second game.”

With the match tied going into the third game, the Moose started the same way they did the first two — fast. Palmer lead 10-5 early off three straight points served by Lily Cullers. Colony kept it to within five late, trailing 18-13, but Jessica Cole came off the bench for Palmer to serve four straight points, including an ace, to push the lead 20-13.

The deciding game was much the same, with Palmer leading 10-5 early, and gradually extending the advantage, leading 24-12 at one point before finally closing the door 25-14.

With the regular season winding down, Reynolds said he likes the way his team is playing going into regional tournament play, but cautioned that a perfect record doesn’t mean anything if the team breaks down when it counts.

“Specifically, I liked how we were fighting for points tonight,” he said. “Toward the end of the season, everybody wants to win, everybody wants to go into the region tournament playing well. We saw a little ball control at times, but in general we really fought for the points well tonight.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.