Knights fall just shy of 4A volleyball state title

Colony was the story of the 4A state tournament, but the Knights fell just short of the storybook ending.

Dimond used a 30-20 win in the if necessary game to squash Colony’s title hopes during the final day of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Volleyball Championships Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

The Knights, possibly the youngest varsity squad in the 4A field, stormed through the first two days of the tournament. Colony was a combined 9-1 in its first three matches, beating Lathrop 3-0 (25-6, 25-22, 25-13) and Dimond 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21) on the first day, and Chugiak 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-21) in the semifinals. The Knights are a team heavy with juniors and featured just one senior, middle hitter Ryann Evey, on the roster. Colony was in the state tournament for the first time since 2002.

In the state title match, the Lynx flipped the script on the Knights scoring a 3-2 (25-21, 25-19, 11-25, 23-25, 15-10) over Colony to force the if needed best-to-30 game in the double-elimination tourney. Colony pushed a lead to 11-8, but Dimond used a 14-2 run to take a 22-13 advantage.The Knights were unable to cut the lead to less than seven points for the remainder of the game.

Dimond earned its first state title since 2022. Colony was in the final match for the first time since 2009 and in search of its first state crown since 1998.

A pair of Colony freshmen earned two of the top honors of the tourney. Emily DeHart was named most outstanding setter and Taylor Passard was tabbed as the most outstanding hitter. DeHart, Passard and Alli Morrissey earned all-tournament honors.

Colony also finished second in the Northern Lights Conference this season.

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