Moose cap wild state volleyball tourney with 3rd-place finish

ANCHORAGE — The Palmer Moose discovered a new mantra during the 2014 season.

“Embrace the insanity.”

And it’s fitting, especially considering Palmer’s run through the state tournament. The Moose notched a third-place finish in the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Volleyball Championships at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. It marked the third time Palmer finished third in the last four years, and Palmer’s fourth third-place finish since 2006. But of all of Palmer’s top-3 finishes, 2014 might be the most memorable for the Moose.

The Moose played in five matches in the tourney, including two with an 8 a.m. start time. Two of the five matches came during an unforgettable second day of the tournament for the Moose. Palmer scored a pair of key victories, but also had an expected 45-minute stay in one of the elevators at the Alaska Airlines Center, a new facility on the UAA campus.

Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said assistant coach Jayme Dehart coined the term, “embrace the insanity.”

“It has been our theme,” Reynolds said. “It’s just been a crazy year for us.”

After opening with a 3-1 (25-23, 25-12, 21-25, 25-15) loss to Dimond Thursday morning, Palmer rebounded with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-15) win over Juneau-Douglas Friday morning. But before the Moose returned to the court to face rival Colony later that afternoon, things got a little crazy.

Prior to their match, the Moose were watching the Kodiak-West Valley match from the upper level of the Alaska Airlines Center. Before that match went final, the players piled into an elevator, ready to return to the floor level and get ready for their own match.

“Coming down on the elevator, there was a click, and then it stopped,” Palmer senior Mariah McNamara said. “I hyperventilated. I’m not good in close spaces. It was kind of scary. We could hear tapping, and this alarm started going off in the elevator.”

Meanwhile, not knowing that his entire team was stuck in an elevator somewhere in the building, Reynolds sat with his assistant coaches, watching the West Valley-Kodiak match.

“Luckily, one of our team members had she cell phone. She called her sister, and her sister thought we were kidding and she hung up on us,” McNamara said.

McNamara said it was about 20 minutes before people began to realize that the entire Palmer team was actually stuck in the elevator.

Reynolds said when someone did come to tell him the players were all stuck, his first thought was, his players were pulling a prank.

“We didn’t believe them. Someone came and told us and (she) was all smiley. We’re like, ya right. I figured they wanted to get a rise out of us, get us out there, and be like, surprise,” Reynolds said. “We got there, and the police were (at the elevator).”

Reynolds said there was a bit of panic as the West Valley-Kodiak match went final with the Moose still stuck in the elevator.

“We knew there wasn’t a lot of time in between (matches). We knew we were going to have to play pretty much when we got out. I wasn’t sure how that was going to go,” Reynolds said.

There had already been one forfeit in the tournament. The Kodiak team couldn’t catch a flight out of Kodiak because of bad weather. The Bears were forced to take the ferry instead, and didn’t arrive in Homer until Friday morning, leaving them with not enough time to get to Anchorage for a first-round match with South.

After about 45 minutes, the elevator doors were finally pulled open.

“Everyone was so happy to get out of there,” McNamara said. “It was so hot, everyone was so happy. We thought we were going to miss out game and be out of state.”

Reynolds said he wasn’t exactly sure how his team would hit the court after spending the better part of an hour huddled in an elevator.

“Mariah was the most rattled. She was kind of shook up. I was most worried about her,” Reynolds said. “Everyone was happy to get out.”

McNamara responded by collecting 11 kills and seven digs during the 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-17) sweep of the Knights.

Happy to earn the win, McNamara was sure of one thing after the Colony match.

“I’m going to take the stairs from now on,” McNamara said with a laugh. “I’m never taking an elevator again.”

Moose split on final day

Palmer split a pair of matches Saturday, during the final day of the 4A state tournament. The Moose started their morning with a 3-1 (25-13, 11-25, 25-23, 25-20) win over East Anchorage. In the following match, Dimond beat Palmer for the second time in the tournament. Dimond scored a 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-20) victory over the Moose to advance into a state title bout with South Anchorage.

Colony finished 1-2 in the tournament. The Knights scored a 3-2 (16-25, 25-16, 25-23, 18-25, 15-13) victory over West Valley in the tournament’s opening round. South beat Colony 3-0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-10) in a winner’s bracket game. The Knights were eliminated with the loss to Palmer.