Valley squads feature a new look

MAT-SU — It’s the year of the new look for each of the four Mat-Su Valley 4A prep volleyball squads.

Two programs, Wasilla and Houston, have new coaches. While the other two, Colony and Palmer, are busy filling the void left by large graduated classes.

At Colony, the Knights are working to replace seven departed seniors who helped CHS win the Northern Lights Conference title last season.

“The team is starting fresh, but we’re all doing really good,” said Colony senior Brittany Brown, one of several junior varsity players promoted to the varsity level during the offseason.

The Knights return only two members of the 2008 varsity squad, captains Sierra Hodgson and Siobhan Johansen.

Seniors Katie Gonski, Kelsey Hediger and Gaynor Johansen, and juniors Tess Forstner, Shellina Irwin, Laura Maresh and Kathryn Mayer are also on the varsity squad.

Colony opened the season with a third-place finish in the 10-team Chugiak Invitational and earned a 3-2 (21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 16-25, 15-12) NLC win over Palmer on Tuesday.

Considering the amount of new faces on the squad and the early success, Colony head coach Amy Carter is excited about the early success.

“I’m very pleased with what they’re doing now,” Carter said. “Whenever you lose seven seniors, you’re not sure what you’re going to have.”

Carter said she is certainly looking for Hodgson and Siobhan Johansen to be her leaders on and off the court.

“They’ve been the babies for two years, and now they’re stepping up and being the leaders,” Carter said of the growth of her two captains. “They’re doing a really good job stepping up and being leaders.”

Palmer is replacing five graduated seniors from a team that finished fourth in the NLC tournament last season.

Despite the losses, the Moose do return a solid core of talent.

Among those leading the 2009 edition of the Palmer squad are four veterans of the varisty team: seniors Brittany Arlow, Nicole Cherrier and Danielle Pempek and junior Kendal Venzke.

The Moose also have a host of newcomers.

Senior Mallory Manier and sophomore Jenna Arlow are on varsity after spending last season on the junior varsiy and C-teams, respectively. Senior Jaimi Cox, a standout on the Palmer girls basketball squad, is hitting the hardwood early and playing volleyball for the first time since the eighth grade. And the Moose also welcomed a pair of transfers. Junior Chantel Grover arrives to Palmer from Washington and sophomore Morgan Morfe transferred from Colony.

Reynolds said he expects to have a better blocking team than Palmer has had in years past, thanks to the height of players such as Cox, Cherrier and Manier.

Cox and Cherrier are both right are 5-foot-10, Reynolds said, while Manier stands at 6-0.

“We definitely have our block working real well,” Reynolds said. “We’ve been without that for a number of years.”

Manier also provides a left-handed threat for the Moose.

“Nice to have a player on the right side who is left-handed,” Reynolds said. “She knows how to use her left hand pretty well. He puts up a good block and can hit. She’s a potential offensive threat.”

The Wasilla Warriors, who finished 4-6 in the NLC during the regular season, are entering a new era. Claudia Pinard, a former assistant at Palmer, has taken over the program.

Pinard’s first task as head coach has been replacing six seniors, three of whom are competing in college athletics this year. Jenna Johnson, Kelsie Cline and Danielle Harris have all graduated to the collegiate level. Johnson is playing Division I college basketball, while Cline and Harris have hit the college volleyball court.

Former captain Sammy Becker also graduated.

Even though the Warriors did graduate a chunk of talent, the Warriors do return four seniors and six juniors.

Carlee Naczi, April Gehring, Kaitlin Pevan and Alexis Rains represent the senior class. Rebecca Newcomb, Aryn Crane and Brooke Morgan are among those in a deep junior class.

Wasilla opened the NLC season with a two-match series at Kodiak last week. Kodiak won both matches.,

Like Wasilla, Houston also enters the season with a new coach. Lynn Edwards replaces Greg Gaither, who served as head coach of the Hawks for two years.

“We look pretty good, we’re working hard,” Edwards said of her team, which competed in the Nikiski Invitational last week. “We really working on keeping up the intensity, keeping things going.”

Houston features five seniors on the squad: Katie Hensley, Amy Orth, Natasha Batchelder, Jessica Origer and Amber Madrid. Orth is also a captain, alongside junior Amber Acton.

Orth and Acton are also Edwards’ setters this year. Edwards said the Hawks are running a two-setter offense, and both Orth and Acton bring a number of attributes to the court.

“Both setters can hit,” Edwards said.

Edwards is also excited about the work of junior middle hitter Savannah Ritter and sophomore outside hitter Savanna James.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.