Underdog Eagle River upsets Palmer

Frontiersman

ANCHORAGE —The Northern Lights Conference champion Palmer Moose fell victim to the biggest upset in the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank State Volleyball Championships at West Anchorage High School, falling in a back-and-forth five-game match to the Eagle River Wolves, the third-place team out of the Cook Inlet Conference.

“At times we played great,” Palmer coach Steve Reynolds said following the match.

But Palmer was unable to hold on to a couple of crucial leads, letting the upstart Wolves hang in the match and avenge an early-season loss to Palmer.

“At times we took a break from playing well,” Reynolds said.

Eagle River fought back from a fourth-game loss to take a 15-7 win in the fifth and final game, moving into the second round in the school's first-ever state volleyball tournament appearance.

Palmer opened things up with a 25-21 win in the first game, and led 11-6 to start the second. But Eagle River finished on a 12-6 run, pulling out 25-21 win of its own to tie the match.

In the third, the Moose again allowed the Wolves to come from behind, this time blowing a 19-14 lead as Eagle River scored 11 of the game's final 14 points to pull out a tense 25-22 win and take a 2-1 lead into the fourth game.

The Moose were finally able to hold a lead in the fourth, trailing just once before going up for good at 4-3 on back-to-back Geneva Ratcliff kills.

Palmer never trailed again, forcing a decisive fifth game with a relatively easy 25-18 win.

Nicole Kenney was a force in the fourth, picking up five kills and keeping the Wolves off balance by consistently ripping spikes from her outside hitting position.

Kenney led Palmer with 28 kills, while Sarah Svedin had 28 assists.

Palmer faces Wasilla today at 10:45 a.m.

Contact Matt Tusneth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com