Houston brings scrappy play to court in loss to Wolfpack

HOUSTON — After watching his team drop a four-game match to West Valley on Wednesday, Houston volleyball coach Greg Gaither was all smiles.

“The bottom line is they’re probably the No. 1 team in the state right now,” Gaither said of West Valley’s 3-1 (22-25, 25-12, 25-10, 25-13) win over the Hawks. “This was a big step for us.”

West Valley entered the match undefeated this season and boasts a tall, intimidating front line of powerful hitters. But in the opening game of Wednesday’s match at Houston High, the undersized Hawks were the ones doing most of the damage.

Houston used strategy and hustle to pull out a tight 25-22 win in the opening game, scoring three straight points to close out the Wolfpack in the opener.

The decisive play in the game came with the Hawks leading 23-22 late. Houston’s Sara Thiele spiked a ball that appeared to go wide, but referees ruled a West Valley player had tipped the ball before it went out of bounds. That gave the Hawks two game points, and when West Valley star outside hitter Cashaana Renfro’s spike sailed out of bounds, the Hawks had a 1-0 lead.

The win set off a wild celebration among the small, but extremely vocal, contingent of Houston students and fans that have become a staple at Hawks home games this season.

West Valley appeared out of sync in the first game, struggling to cope with Houston’s strategy of using just a single blocker on the front line, playing the rest of the defense back and ready to defend against the Wolfpack attack.

“They were real consistent where they were hitting the ball, and we knew where it was going,” Houston senior Jen Mason said.

Mason and fellow senior Kelsey Thamm had several improbable diving digs in the opening game that kept play alive, and the entire Houston team showed a willingness to hit the floor throughout the match.

“That’s a big part of our game; we’re scramblers,” Mason said.

Kacey Newman also played a big role in the opening game victory, providing a steady presence in the middle of the defense and deftly passing the ball up front to Thiele and Ariel Katzenberger on the front line.

Thiele led the Hawks with eight kills in the match, while Katzenberger added six and Mason five.

West Valley coach Matt Steffes said he knew coming in Houston wouldn’t be an easy opponent.

“They played really tough in Fairbanks, so we knew not to look by them,” Steffes said.

Along with Houston’s scrappy play, the rambunctious Houston crowd also appeared to bother the West Valley players early in the match.

“I told the girls, ‘you’ve got to just play through it,’” Steffes said. “We don’t have a region tournament this year, so it was a good growing experience for us because it kind of put that region pressure on.”

After getting shocked in the opening game, West Valley got down to business. The Wolfpack outscored the Hawks 75-35 in sweeping the final three games, and even Gaither was impressed with the dominance the Wolfpack displayed.

“They were like a Big-10 or Pac-10 team out there,” Gaither said, comparing the Wolfpack to college volleyball programs.

When the Wolfpack was able to get solid passing to the front line, it was nearly impossible to stop. Three West Valley players reached double figures in kills, including Leanna Slater with 17, Renfro with 12 and Mattson with 11.

West Valley improved to 10-0 with the victory, including a 5-0 record in Mid-Alaska Conference play. The loss dropped Houston to 1-8 on the season and 1-4 in the conference.

This is Houston’s first season at the class 4A level, and Gaither said the team’s solid play Wednesday shows the improving Hawks belong.

“I’ve got no complaints,” Gaither said. “The girls played hard, and that was our best volleyball, which is what it’s all about.”

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