Prep volleyball: Knights notch first-round sweep over Kenai

PALMER — After pretty much breezing by the Kenai Kardinals in the during the first two games on Thursday, the Colony Knights found themselves in an unfamiliar position — facing a significant deficit midway through a game.

The Knights trailed 16-9 midway during the third game, but rebounded with a 14-4 run to score a 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-20) win over the Kardinals in the first round of the 2007 Northern Lights Conference Volleyball Championships at Palmer High School.

After the win, Colony senior Hannah Curtis had mixed feelings about the comeback.

“Playing from behind is never really a good thing, but it made us work really hard,” said Curtis, who posted a match-high 20 kills.

Curtis said she felt the Knights, the top seed from the NLC’s Northern Division, lost their focus a bit in that third game.

“And they came out really strong and played really good defense,” Curtis said.

Kenai broke a 4-4 tie with an 8-1 run, highlighted with the most aggressive play the Kardinals showed during the match.

“In the first two games they hardly hit the ball,” Colony head coach Amy Carter said. “And in the third game they came out and they had three or four girls that really hit the ball.”

Kenai head coach Jason Diorec had a simple explanation for the Kards’ play in the third.

“Confidence,” Diorec said. “That’s what we’ve been battling with, because I’ve got such young kids.”

Outside hitter Kara Johnson sparked the Knights’ comeback with several key points in the third game.

Johnson tied the game with a hard kill that landed just over the Kenai side of the net, and gave the Knights their first lead since very early in the match with a block of a Mariah Huhndorf attempt.

“She has a great arm swing,” Curtis said of Johnson. “We just kept telling her to keep swinging away.”

Junior Allie Grazulis added five kills, seven digs and three blocks for Colony, while senior Desi Diselrod posted 22 assists and a team-high 12 digs.

With the win, the Knights move into the semifinal round and face Kodiak at 5 p.m. today at Palmer High

School.

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