Prep volleyball: Moose move into semifinals

PALMER — Midway through the third game of Palmer’s first-round volleyball match against the Skyview Panthers in the Northern Lights Conference Championships, Moose senior Geneva Ratcliff ripped a spike into the heart of the Skyview defense.

Ratcliff’s powerful shot bounced squarely off the face of Skyview junior Missy Massey and ricocheted out of bounds, putting the Moose up 14-6 and forcing Skyview head coach Sheila Kupferschmid to call time out.

But the damage was already done.

Palmer rolled to an impressive 3-0 win (25-14, 28-26, 25-18) over the Panthers and into a semifinal match-up today with Wasilla, which was a 3-1 winner over Soldotna earlier in the evening.

Despite the seemingly lopsided score, Palmer coach Steve Reynolds said the match could have been much closer. After an easy Moose win in the first game, Skyview forced a back-and-forth second that went beyond regulation.

“That was a fight,” Reynolds said.

Palmer senior Nicole Kenney led the Moose with 10 kills and was named player of the game following an impressive effort that included several key digs and serves — including a game-high four aces. Ratcliff added seven kills for the Moose, while Rashayne Zimmer had nine assists.

Brittney Meyer led Skyview with nine kills, while Massie and Candace Penrod each had five.

Kenney was responsible for serving nine of 10 points to start the opening game of the match as Palmer started with a 10-0 run.

“That was just home-court advantage,” Reynolds said.

Skyview didn’t quit after the tough opening game and held the lead though most of the second until costly service aces took away its momentum. Skyview senior Megan Revis — normally one of the Panthers’ best servers — was responsible for two botched serves, including one in the net that gave Palmer its eventual game-winning side-out.

After Revis’ costly mistake, Palmer senior Colleen Bue smacked a heavy ball that landed just inside the back line for the game-winning ace.

While Bue’s ace ultimately decided the crucial second game, it was the play of outside hitter Kenney that was the difference. She had a big spike with the score deadlocked 25-25 and was the emotional leader on the floor, constantly encouraging her teammates.

“She’s a fiery one,” Reynolds said.

The Palmer coach said Kenney’s ability to seemingly will her team on was a crucial difference in Thursday’s match.

“She’s a great player,” Reynolds said. “There were certainly times when she put the team on her shoulders.”

Also big for the Moose was the play of Ratcliff and Sarah Svedin, whose long arms thwarted Skyview’s front-line hitters and dominated the net throughout the contest.

With Palmer holding a 2-0 edge heading into the third game — and playing on its home court — the third game was almost a formality. The Moose opened things up on a 3-1 run behind back-to-back Kenney aces and never looked back, coasting into the semifinals.

“It’s always good to get that first one out of the way,” Reynolds said.

The victory moved Palmer to within one win of it’s 10th consecutive state tournament appearance and secured a 4-0 first-round record for Northern Division teams. Along with Palmer, Colony, Wasilla and Kodiak all won their first-round matches against Kenai Peninsula foes.

Palmer will face Wasilla tonight at 7. The winner will advance to Saturday’s championship game — and next week’s state tournament — while the loser must fight its way through the consolation round to try and earn one of the conference’s three state-tournament berths.

That’s a position Skyview will be in. The Panthers play today at 3 p.m. against Soldotna.