NLC volleyball: Knights upset Warriors; Moose stay alive

PALMER —Colony opened the conference tournament as the bottom seed and the Knights capped their day with a ticket to the state tournament.

Fifth-seeded Colony swept a pair of opponents, including top-seeded Wasilla, during the first day of the Northern Lights Conference Championships volleyball tournament Thursday at Colony High School.

“We talked about, we were the bottom seed. We don’t have anything to lose,” Colony head coach Steve Reynolds said after the win.

Colony finished the regular season tied with fourth-seeded Kodiak at 2-6. The Knights beat the Bears 3-0 in the first match of the tournament. Wasilla (8-0) had the first-round bye. But Reynolds said having the chance to play earlier in the day helped the Knights.

“We had some jitters in the first game of that first match. Region nerves,” Reynolds said. “But we were able to play through that.”

Reynolds said having the chance to work through that first game was key.

“The first six or eight points was a little shaky. But it was big help to have that game,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said the Knights took that, “nothing to lose,” mentality into their match with the Warriors.

“We were trying to go out there and let it rip,” Reynolds said. “Wasilla’s got the weight of the undefeated season, and didn’t have that warm-up match. I think those things played into our favor.”

Colony swept Wasilla 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-18). The Knights jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the third set.

“It definitely gives you the ability to play more relaxed,” Reynolds said. “Having that cushion early makes other people tighten up. But I certainly wasn’t comfortable because we jumped out to that lead.”

Palmer also played twice Thursday in the double-elimination bracket and stayed alive with a tough, 3-2 win over Kodiak in the nightcap. The Moose edged Kodiak 16-14 in the fifth set to move on and eliminate the Bears from the tourney.

Earlier in the day, Soldotna earned a state tournament berth with a 3-1 win over the Moose. Soldotna used a Bailey Leach service ace and a pair of Aliann Schmidt kills late to cement the victory.

Palmer nearly forced a fifth game in the loss. As the Soldotna Stars tried to close out Palmer in the fourth game Thursday afternoon, the Moose put together a run. The Stars had held a five-point lead, but suddenly faced a four-point deficit. Leach collected back-to-back aces early in the fourth game to give Soldotna the 11-6 lead, and added another ace late to push SoHi ahead 22-21.

“I thought our serving gave them some trouble,” Soldotna head coach Shelia Kupferschmid said after the win. “We’ve worked on that most of the end of the year. It really paid off for us.”

Colony and Soldotna will play for a spot in the NLC title match Friday at 1 p.m. Palmer will face Wasilla at 3 p.m. The winner of the Palmer-Wasilla match will earn the NLC’s final state tournament berth. The loser will be eliminated from the tournament.

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