Moose beat Kodiak, earn top seed in NLC volleyball tourney

PALMER — Playing on their home court, the Kodiak Bears were two points from clinching the top seed in the upcoming Northern Lights Conference Championships. But thanks to a late Palmer rally, the Moose will be the top seed when the NLC tourney comes to Palmer High later this week.

Trailing 13-10, Palmer scored the final five points in the decisive fifth game to earn a 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 24-26, 25-16, 15-13) win over the Bears at Kodiak High School. Mariah McNamara and Ellen Groseclose each notched a pair of kills during the five-point stretch to help Palmer improve to 8-2 in NLC play.

Both squads entered the Saturday’s match with identical 7-2 conference records. The Bears forced a tie at the top of the NLC standings with a 3-2 (26-24, 18-25, 18-25, 25-18, 15-10) on Friday.

Saturday, McNamara recorded 17 kills, 20 digs and three aces. Leiah Reichel added 16 kills. Allie McPheters led the Moose with 23

assists.

McNamara finished with 17 kills on Friday. Carly Venzke collected 16 digs and five aces. McPheters finished with 19 assists.

The NLC tourney starts Thursday at Palmer High School. Both Palmer and Kodiak have first-round byes in the tournament. The Moose will play the winner of the match between the fourth and fifth seed Thursday at 6 p.m. The Bears play the winner of the match between the third and sixth seed Thursday at 8 p.m.

Colony and Soldotna both finished tied at 5-5 in the NLC standings. The teams split two matches during the regular season. Tiebreakers used by the conference will determine the third seed in the tourney.

Wasilla (4-6) is locked into the fifth seed. Kenai (1-9) is the sixth seed.

The match between the NLC’s fourth and fifth seeds play Thursday at 1 p.m. The third/sixth match is Thursday at 3 p.m. The NLC uses double-elimination format. Teams can fall on the first day of the tournament and remain alive for a berth to the championship match.