Moose spikers stay undefeated

PALMER — The Palmer Moose and Kodiak Bears have been setting the stage for a potential showdown of undefeated squads at the tail end of the regular season.

Thanks to Palmer’s 3-1 (25-10, 25-27, 25-21, 25-21) win over rival Colony Tuesday, a pair of Northern Lights Conference unbeatens will face off tonight when Palmer hosts Kodiak at 6:30 p.m. at PHS.

“It’s interesting how it shaped up that way,” Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said. “We kind of thought at the beginning of the season that would be one of the toughest matches.”

Palmer and Kodiak are both 8-0 in NLC play, and this weekend will play for the top seed in the NLC Championships, which start Thursday in Soldotna. The Moose and Bears will meet tonight at Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

“We’re excited to play them,” Reynolds said.

Palmer has seen Kodiak once this season in tournament play, losing to the Bears in the semifinals of the West Spiketacular.

“We lost in three, but played them close in all three games. I’m cautiously optimistic about it,” Reynolds said.

Regardless, Reynolds said this is the right type of match for the Moose to play as Palmer heads into the final stretch of the season.

“I have to think this will be one of the toughest matchups we’ve had in a while, with the exception of the Dimond/Service tournament,” Reynolds said. “It’s good to have a tough match right ahead of regions instead of something easy.”

Tuesday, Palmer rebounded after a tough loss in Game 2 to earn the win over Colony.

“They definitely served us tough in that second game, and our passing just went away. We just went on our heels,” Reynolds said. “The first game we played quite well. The second game we let down and Colony came storming back. Colony’s got some good players.”

Senior setter Macey Buresh used an all-around performance to lead the Moose to the win. Buresh finished with 33 assists, nine kills and three aces.

“She’s doing a great job,” Reynolds said.

Brecken Riekena hammered 14 kills and Cassidy Giese picked up 19 digs for the Moose. Eilliot Perkins added a dozen kills and three aces.

Overall, Reynolds said it was a team effort that allowed the Moose to win the final two games of the match.

“We were talking about the ability to bounce back quickly. I felt like we did that and came out and played a bit more focused,” Reynolds said.

Colony, which caps its regular season tonight against rival Wasilla at 6:30 p.m., dropped to 3-6 in NLC play. Wasilla is 2-7.