State volleyball: Warriors suffer tough exit from state tourney

WASILLA — Wasilla’s state tournament ended before the Warriors could get anything started.

Wasilla was swept for the second consecutive day, falling to Chugiak 3-0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-16) in consolation round action of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Volleyball Championships at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla Friday.

“It was not a good way to finish at all,” Wasilla head coach Claudia Farias-Pinard said after her Warriors were eliminated from tourney play.

Farias-Pinard had a hard time explaining what happened with her team during the first two days of the state tourney. Wasilla was swept quickly by South Anchorage in the first round and again against the Mustangs.

The losses come on the heels of Wasilla’s best run of the season. The Warriors enjoyed an outstanding October — earning key Northern Lights Conference wins over rivals such as Colony, Skyview and Palmer — and won three of four matches en route to a third-place finish at the NLC tourney.

“Regionals and state came at the right time. We were at the top of our game,” Farias-Pinard said. “We really came into regionals and state as strong as we could be.”

Farias-Pinard suggested nerves may have got the best of her Warriors. She said Wasilla looked “shy” after the loss to South.

“Maybe they were just too nervous?” Farias-Pinard said.

Seniors Sariah Tuisaula and Taylor Steiner each led the Warriors with a team-high seven kills in the match. Senior Kayla Binggeli collected 13 digs and senior Jolee Fife added 12.

Binggeli also had five blocks.

Farias-Pinard said she is proud of her team’s ability to rebound from a tough first-half of the season and play its way into the state tourney. Wasilla also played most of the regular season without Tuisaula, a first-team All-NLC selection last year and certain player of the year candidate when healthy. Tuisaula suffered a knee injury during an offseason volleyball camp at Brigham Young University that required surgery. Tuisaula was thought to be lost for the season, but returned to the court for the final two matches of the regular season before playing in the NLC and state events.

Tuisaula is part of a deep senior class Farias-Pinard and the Warriors will miss.

“They are great kids,” Farias-Pinard said. “It was awesome to work with them.”

Farias-Pinard said the senior class is full of players who have set their primary focus on volleyball, and she expects some of them to play at the college level.

“All these years, they’ve wanted to be here and be the best,” Farias-Pinard said.

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