Moose rally to beat rival

PALMER — Late in the first game, as the Palmer Moose hosted rival Colony on their home floor, the Moose found themselves facing a stiff deficit. Colony led 24-11. But as the Knights continued to work for game-point, the Moose put together a nine-point run. Colony was able to grab that Game 1 win, but the Moose found some momentum during that first set, and used it to score a 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 26-24) Tuesday night at Palmer High School.

“We came out really amped,” Palmer head coach Jayme DeHart said after the win. “We settled down as the match went on, settled down and played our game.”

Newcomer Kennedy Bryan finished with a team-high 15 kills in the win, and helped Palmer improve to 3-0 in Northern Lights Conference play.

“She has done well for us so far,” DeHart said of the outside hitter, who moved with her family from Oklahoma prior to the school year.

The bulk of Bryan’s kills came in the final two games of the match, including three during Palmer’s final seven points of the match.

“After she settled down, she did a lot for us,” DeHart said of Bryan.

Another Palmer newcomer, Madi Ko, chipped in 14 kills during the win. Tiana Lee finished with 27 assists. Mystery Showalter led the Moose with 13 digs.

The Moose also improved to 5-0 overall. Palmer has done that despite missing different players at various points early in the season.

“We have a lot to do. We haven’t really played together much. We have a lot of new people,” DeHart said.

The Colony loss was the first of the season for a best-of-5 match. Colony had started out 3-0 with a pair of wins over Kodiak in early September and a nonconference victory at Lathrop last week.

Eve Stephens led the Knights with 18 kills and four blocks. Lily Birch finished with 12 kills and 12 digs. Mikara Klawitter had 12 kills and 11 digs. Haylee Duguid also had 12 digs. Shiann Bontrager collected 35 assists.

NLC play continues this weekend with Palmer hosting Soldotna tonight at 6:30 p.m. The Stars play at Colony Saturday at 12:30 p.m. The Moose host Kenai Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Wasilla is also in action tonight, hosting Kenai at 6:30 p.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.