Knights storm into state volleyball tourney

PALMER — The Colony Knights are heading to the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Volleyball Championships, and they’ll be bringing an 18-match winning streak with them.

The undefeated Knights, who improved to 18-0 this season with a 3-1 win over the Kodiak Bears in the Northern Lights Conference tournament title game on Saturday, will open state tourney play against Chugiak on Thursday at 7:15 p.m. at West Anchorage High School.

Even though the Knights collected 18 wins this season, swept 13 opponents and never saw a fifth set in any of their matches, Colony head coach Amy Carter knows the Knights are not guaranteed an easy ride through the tournament bracket.

“Every team at state is always a good team,” Carter said. “You have to be ready to play.”

Colony is the lone undefeated team on the 4A bracket, but two squads — Dimond (18-1) and Lathrop (17-1) have only lost once — and Colony’s opponent in the first round, Chugiak, finished the season 15-2.

And if that isn’t enough, there’s also the three-time defending state champion South Anchorage Wolverines. South Anchorage, 12-5 this season, also happens to be on Colony’s side of the bracket.

Colony has played just three of the other seven teams in the tournament. The Knights beat both Kodiak and Skyview in the NLC tourney and finished 4-0 against those teams during the regular season. The Knights also beat Southeastern Conference champion Juneau-Douglas during the regular season.

Colony’s only look at some of the other teams in the tourney came during regular-season tournament play. The Knights faced Chugiak, splitting two games with the Mustangs, during the Chugiak Invitational and the beginning of the season.

“It’s different playing them (in tournaments),” Carter said. “You kind of get a feel for who their players are but it’s different playing game after game after game than just playing one match in a day.”

Carter will have a wealth of experience at her disposal during the tournament. Colony lost only three players from the squad that advanced to the state title game last season.

Among the leaders are middle hitters Allie Grazulis, who was recently named the NLC Player of the Year, and Kara Larson.

Leading the Knights on the back line is senior libero Jackie Hamann.

“Jackie’s kept us in a lot of games,” Carter said. “Our defense has been pretty good for the most part with Jackie and April (Bleicher) and Sierra (Hodgson).”

With a win Thursday, Colony would move into the semifinal round and the Knights would face either Lathrop or South Anchorage at 7:15 p.m. on Friday

A loss would push the Knights into a consolation semifinal at 10:45 a.m. on Friday.

All state tournament matches are at West Anchorage High School. The 4A state title game is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m.

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