Prep volleyball: Warriors drop matches on road

SOLDOTNA — Skyview was in its third game with Casee Penrod as setter. Wasilla was on a road trip without returning all-Northern Lights Conference player Jenna Johnson.

The result was a topsy-turvy, five-game conference victory for the Panthers on Saturday at Skyview. The Panthers cruised to 25-10 and 25-11 victories in the first two games. Wasilla then awoke for 25-19 and 25-23 wins. Skyview then raced to a 6-1 lead in the fifth game and held on for a 15-9 victory.

Predictably, both coaches were harping on consistency after the match. Wasilla coach Anna Simmons said the team had to adjust its lineup with Johnson off attending to college matters. The Warriors also lost in Homer on Friday 25-12, 25-12 and 26-24.

“It’s mostly a matter of being confident,” Simmons said after her team dropped to 2-2 in the league and 3-3 overall. “This team has the talent to beat anybody, but we still have a lot of room for improvement. I have faith this team will be where it needs to be in crunch time.”

Skyview also is a team finding its way.

“We have a long way to go,” said Skyview coach Sheila Kupferschmid after her team improved to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the conference. “It’s just inconsistency. We’re mixing experience with inexperience.”

Kupferschmid is encouraged due to the rapid improvement of Penrod at setter.

“She played a very good match against Wasilla,” Kupferschmid said of Penrod, who had 21 assists. “Yes, she’s inconsistent. But overall, in general, she ran the show pretty well.

“I’m upbeat because every time she steps on the floor she gets better.”

In the first two games, Penrod directed an attack that the Warriors had a hard time stopping.

“At the beginning we had a hard time blocking and that put us in a passing rut,” Simmons said.

Penrod does have a pair of experienced attackers at her disposal in Missy Massey, who had 17 kills, five blocks and 10 service points, and Brittney Meyer, who had 15 kills, three blocks and eight service points. The setter also developed a nice relationship with middle hitter Maddie Abbott on Saturday. Abbott finished with 12 kills and one block.

“My setter found her and developed confidence with her,” Kupferschmid said. “That’s important because volleyball is such a confidence game.”

In the third and fourth games, it was Wasilla that had confidence. Simmons said her team started blocking better, led by Kelsie Cline, who filled in for Johnson and finished the match with five blocks. The coach also said her team served better in games three and four, accumulating most of its nine aces.

Better defense allowed the Wasilla attack to improve. Sammy Becker had nine kills for Wasilla, while Aryn Crane added eight. Alex Firestack had 14 assists, while April Gehring had eight assists. The defense was led by Sam Lewis, who had 16 digs.

“We let up after the second one,” Kupferschmid said. “We’ve had a tendency to do that. I’m chalking it up to conditioning and we’re going to take care of that. I told them that.”

Jessie Bilderback added 13 digs for Skyview.

On Friday, the Warriors were swept 3-0 (25-12, 25-12, 26-24) by Homer at Homer High School.

Palmer 3, East 0

PALMER — The Palmer Moose swept East Anchorage 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 28-26) in a nonconference match at Palmer High School on Friday.

Senior Mikaela Bolling led the Moose with nine kills and two blocks in the game. Danielle Pempek added six kills and two blocks.

Brittany Arlow collected a match-high 11 digs in the win.

Katherine Pili led the Thunderbirds with 10 kills.