Moose defeat Juneau to claim fourth place

ANCHORAGE — It happens each season. A final whistle blows, hugs are exchanged and another chapter closes on the story of a group of athletes whose time is now through.

Four Palmer seniors closed the book on a fourth-place finish at the Alaska high school volleyball tournament Saturday with a three-game sweep of Juneau-Douglas at West Anchorage High School.

“It's always nice to go out with a win,” Palmer senior setter Sarah Svedin said after the 25-23, 25-18, 25-21 win.

Along with fellow seniors Nicole Kenney, Geneva Ratcliff and Colleen Bue, Svedin helped anchor a Palmer team that reached the state tourney for the 10th consecutive year and won a Northern Lights Conference championship.

All season long, Palmer played with a relaxed, confident style that Kenney said had much to do with the strong bonds between the close-knit team.

“I can honestly say I love every single one of my teammates this year,” Kenney said.

That style of play allowed Palmer to hang in the Juneau match early despite losing a big lead. The Moose nearly gave the first game away, blowing an early 7-1 before regaining the lead just in the nick of time, scoring the final three points of the game for a 25-23 win. Svedin's big kill gave Palmer its final side-out, and Ratcliff finished off the Crimson Bears with back-to-back service aces to give Palmer a 1-0 lead.

Palmer rode the big momentum swing into the second game, which saw the Moose roll to an easy 25-18 win. Palmer was spurred on in the game by a 9-2 run midway through that was keyed by three Mikaela Bolling kills and two by Svedin.

Bolling, a junior, led Palmer with 18 digs, while Kenney was the top scorer with nine kills. Junior setter Rashayne Zimmer had 12 assists.

With the match essentially in hand after the first two games, Reynolds elected to empty his bench in the third, playing all underclassmen until late in the game, when he put his four seniors back in to close out their final match.

“I always like to do that at the state tournament if it works out,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said he was pleased with the play of his younger players, a group that has big shoes to fill next season. Losing seniors is always hard, he said, but it's nice to know that the younger players are ready for their turn at center stage.

“There's always a new crop coming,” Reynolds said.

That's not to diminish the accomplishments of this year's leaders, he said. In fact, Reynolds pointed out that the variety of styles his four seniors brought to this year's team was instrumental in Palmer's success.

“They all have different things that they bring to the team,” he said.

Ratcliff and Svedin were both tall, athletic players who filled slightly different spots in the Palmer rotation, with Svedin playing one of Palmer's primary setting roles and Ratcliff called upon to do much of the hitting. Kenney was the emotional leader, a smart all-around player who was equally adept at pulling out a clutch dig or hammering home a crucial spike. And Bue, Reynolds said, played whatever role he asked of her without ever complaining.

“She was kind of the glue that held it together,” he said.

When asked if they'll miss playing with one another, the group — still standing arm-in-arm on the sidelines — was quick to answer.

“Yes!” they said in unison.

“Heck yes,” Kenney added.

Kenney said that while it was hard to see the season end Saturday, the Palmer seniors understand that's the nature of high school sports.

“It's gonna be sad to not be playing with these girls again,” she said. “But it's good to move on to the next challenge in life.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com