Moose move forward in NLC tourney

SOLDOTNA — The first-round bye didn’t get the best of the Moose this year.

Palmer, the No. 2 seed in the bracket, moved forward with a 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-19) win over host Soldotna during the first day of the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Soldotna High School Thursday.

The Moose entered the 2013 tourney in a situation similar to last year. A season ago, Palmer was the No. 1 seed and had to play host to Kodiak after its first-round bye. The Bears upset the Moose, and sent Palmer into the loser’s bracket.

But things were different on Thursday. Palmer scored the sweep of the Stars, which sets up a match with Kodiak today at 5 p.m. in the third round of the championship bracket.

“I was a little worried. We dropped the first (match) of our tournament last year,” Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said by cellphone from Soldotna Thursday night. “It was good to get the win. The girls did well.”

Reynolds said his team was able to pull away in Games 1 and 3, but the second game of the match was the one to see, a 26-24 win for the Moose.

“The second game was close, came right down to the wire,” he said.

Reynolds said his outside hitters were key in the match. Senior Elliot Perkins finished with 12 kills and 11 digs. Junior Mariah McNamara collected 11 kills and 11 digs.

“Our outside hitters did a nice job,” Reynolds said.

Setter Mariah Buresh recorded 29 assists, and libero Cassidy Giese finished with 19 digs.

Kodiak, the top seed in the tourney, moved ahead with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-27, 25-18, 25-21) win over the Colony Knights earlier in the evening.

Despite the loss, Colony head coach Amy Carter was impressed with her team’s play.

“I thought we played very well. All the games were close,” Carter said by cellphone Thursday night. “I felt like we were in every game.”

Sophie Hall led the Knights with 16 kills against Kodiak. Brooke Nezaticky and Morgan Johnson added seven kills each. Ashley Turcotte and Chelsea Friesen picked up 16 digs each. Mackenzie Everett recorded 37 assists.

Despite the loss, Colony is still alive in the double-elimination bracket. The Knights face Kenai today at 11 a.m. Carter said she hopes her team can build momentum from the solid play against a tough Bears team.

“That’s what I’m hoping for, come back tomorrow and get back in it,” she said.

Colony, the No. 4 seed, opened its tourney with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-17) victory over Wasilla Thursday afternoon. Hall had 13 kills and Nezaticky finished with 11 kills against the Warriors. Turcotte recorded 11 digs, and Friesen finished with 10 digs.

Wasilla plays host Soldotna today at 1 p.m.