Moose win a match, drop another on first day of tourney

CHUGIAK — For the last two weeks, Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds has seen the steady progress of Leiah Reichel.

Thursday, the junior middle hitter showed Juneau-Douglas what her coach has already seen.

Reichel used a late solo block and a kill to help cap a Moose rally, as Palmer came from behind in the fourth game to beat the Crimson Bears 3-1 (26-24, 25-19, 27-29, 26-24) during the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank State Volleyball Championships.

Palmer followed later in the day with a 3-0 loss to defending state champion Dimond, but Thursday afternoon it was Reichel who shined.

“Leiah came up big for us, especially in the end there,” Reynolds said.

Reichel helped Palmer put away the fourth game after a long rally. With her long reach, she put her arms up in the air and blocked a Juneau attack to tie the score at 24.

Reichel followed by smacking a shot into the center of the Juneau defense to give Palmer the 25-24 advantage.

“She’s doing some good stuff, at the right time too,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said he’s noticed significant progress within the last two weeks, and Reichel stood out during the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Soldotna High School last week, helping the Moose finish as that tourney’s runner-up.

Thursday, Reichel finished with six total blocks for Palmer.

Senior Elliot Perkins was also key for Palmer in its early match. All five of Perkins’ aces came in the fourth game, helping Palmer erase deficits as large as nine points.

Reichel posted a kill to cut Juneau’s lead to 13-11 midway through the fourth game, but Juneau erupted on a 9-2 run to balloon its advantage to 22-13.

Palmer was able to stop the run with a kill from senior Brecken Riekena, and steadily began to chew away at the Crimson Bear advantage.

Consecutive Mariah McNamara kills sandwiched by Perkins aces cut Juneau’s lead to 23-20. Her fourth ace of the game brought the Moose within a point.

“She’s been a good server for us all year,” Reynolds said of Perkins.

Overall, Reynolds said he was happy to see his team erase the large deficit.

“We’re going to fight. I wish sometimes we didn’t put ourselves in that position,” Reynolds said. “We tend to fight to the end no matter what.”

Macey Buresh led the Moose with 47 assists during the win over Juneau. Perkins added 16 kills and nine digs to her team-high five aces. McNamara chipped in 16 kills, and Cassidy Giese collected 18 digs.

Palmer advanced to the quarterfinals with the win, but Dimond pushed the Moose into the loser’s bracket with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-16) win Thursday evening. With the bracket’s double-elimination format, Palmer can still work its way back into the final round. Palmer will play the winner of Friday morning’s West Valley-Chugiak match Friday at 5 p.m. at Chugiak.

Before sweeping Palmer, Dimond collected a 3-0 (25-12, 25-17, 25-14) sweep of Colony earlier in the day.

Colony’s best success came during the second game. The Knights, led by the hitting of senior Brooke Nezaticky, carried a lead until Dimond’s Leah Swiss and Chrisalyn Johnson recorded back-to-back kills to tie the game at 10. Dimond capped the game with a 15-7 run.

Nezaticky led the Knights with six kills in the match. Hall added five kills, and Courtney Mulkins collected a team-best six digs.

Mackenzie Everett had 16 assists.

Colony will face Juneau-Douglas Friday at 11 a.m. in an elimination match.

Contact Jeremiah Bartz at 352-2273 or sports@frontiersman.com.