Ram spikers fourth at state

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

ANCHORAGE - The Susitna Valley volleyball team would have liked to improve on its fourth-place finish last year at the 1-2-3A state championships, when it hit the court for the event at Dimond High School last week.

But, once again Su Valley finished fourth.

The Rams would have liked to bust into the top three in the state, but Su Valley isn't exactly disappointed. After the loss of a couple of key components from last year's team, the Rams figured 2005 would be a building year - prepare a team stocked full of sophomores and juniors for a run in 2006. But a funny thing happened. The young Rams started winning matches, and earned a berth to the championships for the second straight season.

&#8220We were hoping to do better than last year,” Su Valley head coach Chad Valentine said. &#8220But we're tickled that we went. The biggest thing is we made it again.”

After scoring an invite to the state championships, the Rams drew the defending state champion, Dillingham, as their first-round opponent for the second straight year.

Su Valley suffered a 3-0 (25-22, 25-10, 25-13) loss to Dillingham in their opening match.

&#8220They were beatible,” Valentine said. &#8220We started off slow in this tournament.”

The Rams rebounded to win matches against Hoonah and Ninilchik on the consolation side of the bracket.

Su Valley defeated Hoonah 3-2 (25-18, 27-29, 16-25, 25-10, 15-9).

&#8220We've been doing pretty well in five-game matches, even at regions,” Valentine said. &#8220When we get to the fifth game, the girls are really good about pushing right through.”

Su Valley used a win over region-rival Ninilchik to clinch fourth place in the tourney. The 3-0 (30-28, 25-0, 28-26) win marked the first sweep of a Su Valley-Ninilchik match this season. The teams had played five times prior to the state tourney.

&#8220They're a very capable team, but they didn't do much,” Valentine said. &#8220They weren't getting the hits.”

Noelle Valentine recorded 22 assists and three aces, all on jump serves, in the win over Ninilchik, and was named to the all-tournament team.

Cherell Drover and Dusty Lester each posted 11 kills in the win over Hoonah.