Prep volleyball: Skyview no match for Colony in NLC semifinals

KENAI — Before Colony went out and swept Skyview in the semifinals of the Northern Lights Conference volleyball tournament on Friday at Kenai Central, both teams watched the other semifinal between Palmer and Kodiak.

The Moose and the Bears engaged in a marathon five-game match — which Kodiak won to earn its first state trip since 1996 — in which it was not uncommon for the ball to pass over the net more than five times.

The Knights and Panthers were having none of that.

In a match of big hitters, the edge went to the team with the biggest hitter of them all — Allie Grazulis.

Grazulis, who last season was on the state all-tournament team in helping the Knights to a second-place finish, had 12 kills and nine blocks as the Knights gradually pounded Skyview into a 25-14, 25-23, 25-8 submission.

Colony wrapped up its sixth straight trip to state, including trips in all four of coach Amy Carter’s seasons at the helm.

“Sometimes when you get in a close match, you get conservative,” said Skyview coach Sheila Kupferschmid, alluding to the Palmer-Kodiak tilt. “There’s no being conservative with Colony.”

That’s because when Grazulis is not playing the middle, fellow senior Kara Larson is. Larson was nearly as potent as Grazulis on Friday, piling up 11 kills.

When Skyview got too fixated on the middle, senior Kara Johnson and junior Sierra Hodgson, who had four kills, gave setter Siobhan Johansen and her 27 assists an option on the outside.

“Their outside hitters have improved,” said Kupferschmid, whose team also was swept by the Knights two weeks ago. “They didn’t do that against us when we were up there.”

Despite the sweep, Kupferschmid said her team played well against the Knights, who lost only three games all year in an undefeated run through the conference.

The coach said the game plan was to hit and serve hard, because it’s nearly impossible to dig the Knights’ potent offense more than a few times in a rally.

Missy Massey, who paced the Panthers with six kills, did just that in the first game when the Knights failed to return three of her serves and the Panthers took a 5-4 lead.

Colony then opened a 10-6 lead when Johansen served out four straight points. Skyview would get no closer than two points as the Knights gradually pulled away.

In the second game, Casee Penrod served out five points as the Panthers took an 18-15 lead. The Knights immediately tied the score at 18 on a net violation by the Panthers and two kills by Grazulis.

Neither team led by more than one point until a pair of kills by Larson gave the Knights a 24-22 lead. Emily Rich, who had three aces, missed a serve as Skyview crept to 24-23, but Johnson came through with a kill to win the game.

“It’s always important to win every game,” Carter said. “Volleyball is such a momentum sport. Once you lose momentum, it can be tough to turn it around.”

In the third game, Carter said the Knights made a few defensive adjustments.

While Colony was able to dig up more of Skyview’s attacks, the Panthers’ passing deserted them, particularly on serve-receive.

Nine straight service points by Rich gave the Knights a 15-6 advantage and effectively ended the match.

“We did not play that bad of a match,” Kupferschmid said. “Colony’s got some good, tough swingers, just like we do.”

Brittney Meyer added five kills for the Panthers, while Jaxon Hill had four and Maddie Abbott had three.

Jaci Lamborn, Jessie Bilderback and Massey added three aces. Kupferschmid also said Bilderback, the libero, had her best defensive match of the season.

In the other semifinal, Kodiak’s Linzee Burcham came through with some big kills and the Bears notched a 23-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-16, 15-10 victory.

In the consolation bracket, Soldotna and Wasilla earned a trip to the third-place semifinals. The Stars ended Homer’s season with a 22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-19 victory, while the Warriors ended Kenai’s season with a 26-24, 24-26, 20-25, 25-16, 15-6 victory.