Moose sweep

PALMER — Sometimes you just need to take what a team gives you.

And that’s exactly what the Palmer Moose did on Thursday.

Palmer capitalized on Wasilla’s mistakes during a 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-19) win over the Warriors at Palmer High School.

“We did try to take advantage, we’ve been taken advantage of enough,” Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds joked after the three-game sweep. “We did in that first game. They had a lot unforced errors.”

Palmer benefited by Wasilla mistakes to take the early lead, scoring its first four points thanks to Wasilla errors.

The Moose didn’t get their first offensive kill until senior Jordan Venzke hammered a ball over the net to give Palmer the 5-3 lead.

“We started out the first game really flat,” Wasilla head coach Anna Simmons said.

Wasilla also struggled as the service line early. Four of Palmer’s first seven points came via the Wasilla service error.

“We were just way to inconsistent,” Simmons said. “My jump servers were missing and they had been hitting six or seven consecutive serves.”

Senior Mikaela Bolling led the Moose with eight kills in the match. Sisters Jordan and sophomore Kendal Venzke combined for eight kills during the win.

Jordan Venzke helped the Moose seal the win with a key kill in the decisive third game.

After Wasilla middle hitter Kelsie Cline recorded consecutive kills to cut Palmer’s lead to 19-17, Venzke slammed a shot just inside the sideline to give the Moose the three-point advantage. The kill helped Palmer keep the momentum and the Moose capped the match with a 5-2 run.

Palmer improved to 2-3 in Northern Lights Conference play, while Wasilla slipped to 3-4.

Senior Jenna Johnson led the Warriors with seven kills. Senior Sam Lewis posted a match-high 17 digs, while junior Ashley Korthius collected 23 assists.

The Mat-Su Valley will feature a full weekend of pre volleyball, with all four Valley 4A teams in action.

Palmer hosts the Homer Mariners tonight at 6:30 p.m. and the Skyview Panthers Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Colony hosts Skyview at 6:30 p.m. tonight and Homer at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Wasilla hosts the Kenai Kardials at 6:30 p.m. tonight and the Soldotna Stars at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Houston hosts Soldotna at 6 p.m. tonight and Kenai at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Warriors win twice on road

FAIRBANKS — Wasilla scored a pair of wins during a three-match road trip in the Interior last week.

After suffering a 3-1 I19-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-15) loss to Lathrop, Wasilla notched a 3-2 (25-19, 20-25, 21-25, 25-10, 15-9) victory over North Pole and a 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 23-25, 25-20) over West Valley.

April Gehring led the Warriors with 22 digs in the loss to Lathrop. Jenna Johnson, who posted 14 kills against Lathrop, collected 22 kills in the win over North Pole and 12 more against West Valley.

Ashley Korthuis recorded 30 assists and two blocks against North Pole, and 27 assists and 10 digs against West Valley.

Hawks win twice during Grace Invite

ANCHORAGE — The Houston Hawks posted wins over Monroe and Seward during round-robin play on the first day of the Grace Christian Invitational last week in Anchorage.

Houston was eliminated with consecutive losses to Barrow and Skyview on the final day of the tourney.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.