Moose spike Cougars in 4A showdown

PALMER -- Palmer volleyball head coach Steve Reynolds had a case of deja vu Tuesday.

Reynolds saw the Service Cougars gain an early 7-1 advantage in their match against his Moose. The early deficit was eerily familiar to Palmer's match with the Cougars just two weeks ago in the championship match of the West High School Spiketacular. Service ended up defeating the Moose at West High.

Fortunately for Reynolds and the Moose, the result was not the same as Palmer made a comeback and won the game 15-13 en route to their 3-0 (15-13, 15-11, 15-9) sweep over the Cougars.

"I was starting to get flashbacks," Reynolds said. "We were down by 10 to Service in the Spiketacular and down again tonight. We made a number of great plays to give us momentum."

Down 7-1 early, Palmer began to eke back in the match, sparked by a Cate Jelle block. That combined with a pair of Service attack errors cut the Cougar lead to 7-4.

Service went on another run, increasing their advantage to 13-6. Down by more than six points for the second time in the game, Palmer would again to claw their way back in. Emily Sakis and Jessie Macknicki combined for six kills to bring the Moose within one. Jelle notched a block for Palmer to bring the game to a tie.

A Brianna Johnson hit landed just inside the backline, giving Johnson the kill and Palmer the 14-13 lead. Jelle registered a service ace to give the Moose the game one win.

The Moose took a 4-2 lead early in the second game, before Service scored six straight points to take the 8-4 advantage. A Cougar service error and a Sakis kill brought Palmer within two points.

The Cougar's climbed to a 10-8 lead and a pair of Jelle kills and a Service attack error tied the game at 10-10.

Macknicki registered a kill for Palmer to give the Moose the 11-10 advantage. The Moose would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the game.

A Service net violation combined with kills by Jelle, Sakis and Megan Tompkins gave Palmer a 14-11 lead.

The game ended as a ball sent over the net by Sakis was dug out by a Cougar player on the backrow. The ball flew into the air and landed directly between a pair of Service hitters and the net, an area that could be likened to the Bermuda Triangle.

The Moose kept a comfortable cushion throughout most of the third game. The two squads were tied at a 4-4 early in the game, before Jayme Irvine posted a pair of service aces to give Palmer the 6-4 advantage.

The Moose would hold their lead for the remainder of the game.

Sakis led the Moose with 20 kills in the match. Macknicki added 10 kills, while Tompkins notched a season high eight kills.

Jelle led Palmer with six blocks and Johnson registered 23 assists.

"This was a nice team effort," Reynolds said. "There are girls we can always count on to get kills and others add to that. There are some girls that we don't necessarily always look to that came up big tonight. Tompkins had one of her best matches tonight. She is a solid player but not the biggest kill leader."

The match pitted the top team in the Northern Lights Conference (Palmer) against the second ranked team in the Cook Inlet Conference (Service).

"Service and Juneau are among are biggest competition right now," Reynolds said. "Our conference games are tough also, but Service is one of the toughest teams we will see."