Senior night sweep

WASILLA — As the three Valley teams in the Northern Lights Conference each celebrated senior night this week, one trend became abundantly clear. The programs had more to celebrate than the careers of their seniors.

Each had the chance to boast a big NLC victory during the final week of regular-season play.

Valley NLC squads finished 3-0 on senior night.

“It was an interesting dynamic this week,” Wasilla head coach Josie Cannon said.

The week started with Palmer’s 3-1 (25-14, 25-18, 12-25, 25-19) victory over the Warriors on Tuesday. Wasilla rebounded with a 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 15-10) win over Colony on Thursday. The Knights wrapped up the big week with a 3-1 (12-25, 25-20, 25-13, 25-14) victory over the Moose.

“Every team has their strengths,” Cannon said. “There’s been a lot of improvement across the conference since the start of the season.”

The outcomes, combined with Kenai’s 3-1 win over Soldotna on the Peninsula earlier in the week, left most of the conference separated by about a game in the standings. Wasilla finished the regular-season 9-1, and owns the top seed in the NLC tournament, which starts Thursday at Wasilla High. Soldotna finished 6-4, and is the No. 2 seed. Both Wasilla and Soldotna earned first-round byes in the six-team, double-elimination tournament.

Palmer and Colony are both tied at 5-5. Kenai, which played at Kodiak Saturday afternoon, was 4-5 heading into Saturday’s action. Results were unavailable prior to press time. Kodiak entered Saturday’s match 0-9 in NLC play.

A Kenai win over Kodiak Saturday leaves the NLC with three teams — Palmer, Colony and Kenai — tied at 5-5.

A set of tiebreakers will be used to decided the third, fourth and fifth seeds. Cannon said regardless of who Wasilla sees, it will be a good team.

“Either way, we’re going to have a tough match-up,” Cannon said.

For more about the NLC tournament, and the schedule, see the Wednesday edition of the Frontiersman.

Palmer 3, Wasilla 1

Madi Ko used 10 kills to help Palmer score the 3-1 win over the Warriors. Erika Spencer finished with eight kills. Mallory Bradford had seven blocks.

Lindsey Cizek and Victoria Malek finished with seven kills each for the Warriors. Andraia Bella had 19 digs, five kills and two blocks.

Wasilla 3, Colony 2

Andraia Bella posted a match-high 25 kills and 22 digs during the 3-2 win over the Knights.

Lindsey Cizek collected 36 assists and 13 digs. Alana Whaton added a dozen digs.

Mikara Klawatter led Colony with 11 kills and 17 digs. Shiann Bontrager finished with 41 assists and six digs. Eve Stephens had 18 kills, eight blocks and three aces.

Colony 3, Palmer 1

Stephens recorded 18 kills, five blocks and three aces to help the Knights cap their regular season with a 3-1 win over the Moose Friday.

Klawitter had eight digs and four kills. Bontrager collected 29 assists, nine digs and four kills. Kennedy Bryan finished with 16 kills for the Moose. Mallory Bradford collected 11 blocks, and Mystery Showalter had four aces.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.