Knights score win over rival Warriors

PALMER — The Colony Knights avenged their only Northern Lights Conference loss of the season, beating the Wasilla Warriors 3-1 (25-11, 19-25, 25-22, 25-15) Friday night at Colony High School.

Emily Cizek went to work with her serve in the third game. Tied at one game apiece, the accurate service of Cizek helped Wasilla erase a five-point deficit down to just one point. Colony and Wasilla battled for control of the game's advantage. After Colony had easily handled Wasilla in the first set, building a 10-point lead in just 11 points, Wasilla returned for the second set with a vengeance.

Cheyenne Green of Wasilla served an ace to make the score 22-21, when a couple of very close calls swung the momentum. Emily Link of Colony used an ace to take the lead back, and they would not trail for the rest of the game. Colony’s Eve Stephens jumped to hit the ball for the set point, but instead of making solid contact, it softly glanced off her fingertips. Stephens got the lucky bounce and there were no Warriors playing close enough to the net to save it.

"We need to do a better job of staying on our toes, because she did a really good job of mixing up her shots," said Wasilla head coach Josie Cannon of Stephens.

Stephens led the Knights with 14 kills. Many were fear-inducing hard hits, but Stephens also had success with soft shots, deceiving the Warriors into thinking she was loading up for a hard hit, but floating the ball gently under where the defense was positioned.

Isabel List began the Knight's success with a nine-serve streak in the first set. The 6-foot junior also tallied 12 kills and 16 assists.

"My big hitters did a really good job tonight. We were able to spread the ball around. We passed way better than we did last time we played them," said Colony head coach Amy Carter.

Colony's senior libero Haylee Duguid led the Knights with 14 digs.

Cizek helped Wasilla gain control in the second set. Tied at 13, Cizek ran off three straight points, then even after a Colony timeout, came back and added an ace.

"She is an excellent server and, as a sophomore, to step into this role midseason I do expect that from her on a regular basis. And I'm happy to expect it for two more years," said Cannon.

Cizek led the team in digs with 20 and assists with 24.

Both teams head into the NLC Championships, which starts Thursday in Kodiak, knowing a third match in the season series is highly probable. The Warriors fell to 7-3, but retain possession of the second seed behind first-seeded Colony. Colony's only blemish on their record came from Wasilla.

Wasilla went point-for-point with Colony to begin the third set. Knowing they would need a victory to force a fifth and final game, the Warriors were fired up. Cannon said after the match she liked what she saw in the team's tenacity and ability to keep fighting. Duguid stepped to the service line and, with the help of her outside hitters, extended a lead that the Knights would not relinquish. Already up 15-9, Avery Easley hit two straight aces. Aleah Yundt added her own two points later, and the Knights cruised to a victory. The game's final point was scored by Stephens, who poetically scored on a soft shot to end the game.

Wasilla 3, Palmer 1

Wasilla scored a 3-1 (25-18, 25-17, 24-26, 25-13) win over Palmer Thursday night at Wasilla High School.

Aleks Kvalheim and Kamryn Broach finished with 10 kills each for the Warriors. Kaitlyn Cook collected 39 assists and 11 digs. Emily Cizek added five aces and six digs.

Palmer also hosted Kodiak Friday and Saturday. Results were not available prior to press time.

Tim Rockey is a freelance writer for the Frontiersman. Contact him at timothy.rockey@frontiersman.com.