Palmer slams past Colony

Palmer hosted Colony Tuesday in the last regular season volleyball match between the two teams.

In a match rich with dominant net play, Palmer won in four games by scores of 15-0, 16-14, 13-15, and 15-9.

"We knew that we couldn't misjudge Colony," said outside hitter Emily Mounce. "They're never an easy game."

Palmer cruised in the first game, dominating with blocked shots at the net and hammering blows from Mounce and Emily Sakis. Colony looked flat and was unable to regroup as Palmer took the first game 15-0.

Palmer took an early 8-2 lead in the second game when Colony came to life and started to rally back, closing the gap to 8-5 behind the strong serving of Stephanie Deml.

After Palmer extended the lead to 10-5, Colony came back again with great hustle to keep the ball in play and set up hitters Lindsey Krupa, Chelayne Dukart and Deml for strong shots.

Colony closed the gap to 10-9 on a tremendous volley that seemed to last for minutes, with great blocks at the net and hustle from both sides to keep the volley alive. Colony finally won the point when a Palmer block fell out of bounds.

Palmer went up 12-9 before Colony charged again to tie the score at 12-12. Colony took its first lead of the game at 13-12 when the ball bounced between two Palmer players who backed away thinking the other would take it.

The two teams tied again at 13 and then 14 when Jesse MacKnicki hit a shot that fell in for a Palmer point.

Following an exchange of side outs with the score still deadlocked at 14-14, Palmer put the game away 16-14 with consecutive shots that Colony was unable to return.

Colony came out determined in game three when Deml slammed the first volley to give Colony the serve. Krupa followed with a pounding shot for Colony's first point and then Deml blocked a Palmer shot for Colony's second point. Sakis answered with a slam to return the serve to Palmer and the Moose tied the score at 2-2.

Colony jumped ahead again 6-2, but Palmer climbed back to tie the score 6-6 behind pounding shots from Mounce.

Colony moved ahead 10-6 but Sakis and Mounce teamed for repeated shots to eventually tie the score once again at 11-11. Colony and Palmer battled through ties at 12 and 13 before Colony pulled out the 15-13 win with points off two serves from Kimberly Marr.

Palmer jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the fourth game with a combination of solid Palmer hitting and Colony miscues.

Colony cut the lead to 8-3, with Dukart knocking and tipping shots for points. Palmer extended the lead 11-3 as Sakis and Mounce fired repeated shots across the net for side outs and points.

Colony charged again to close the gap to 13-9, but Palmer closed out the game 15-9 to take the match in four games.

Sakis finished with 27 kills in the match while Mounce chipped in 17 kills and 17 digs. Bree Johnson had 21 assists.

Deml had 15 kills in the match while Dukart added 14. Marr served four aces.

Before the match, Palmer High School honored senior players Mounce, Amy Bowen, Johnson, Alissa Morino, and team manager Megan Toomey with flowers and a recognition of accomplishment to commemorate senior appreciation night.

Mounce then gave a beautiful rendition of the national anthem before play began.

Wasilla sweeps Bartlett

Wasilla cruised past Bartlett in three games, with scores of 15-5, 15-1, and 15-11 Tuesday at Wasilla.