Valley teams own top seeds in NLC tourney

WASILLA — Following Wasilla’s slim 3-2 win over Northern Lights Conference rival Soldotna in October, both Wasilla head coach Josie Cannon and Soldotna head coach Shelia Kupferschmid predicted another meeting in the region tournament.

And that match could come in the second round of the NLC Championships, which starts Thursday in Kodiak.

“Next time we see them is going to be in the region tournament,” Kupferschmid said.

Third-seeded SoHi needs to take care of its chief rival, Kenai, in the first round. But a fifth meeting between the Warriors and Stars is possible. Wasilla and Soldotna split a pair of NLC matches. The Warriors and Stars also split a pair of meetings during regular season tournaments.

A pair of Valley teams earned the top 2 seeds, and first-round byes in the tournament. Colony (9-1) is the top squad, followed by second-seeded Wasilla (7-3). Third-seeded Soldotna (6-4) is followed closely by fourth-seeded Palmer (5-5-5). Following the SoHi match, Cannon said there’s plenty of parity in the conference.

“It’s a very tight top of the bracket,” Cannon said.

The tournament tips with fifth-seeded Kodiak (3-7) hosting Palmer at 1 p.m. In other first-round action, SoHi meets Kenai (0-10) Thursday at 1 p.m.

The Palmer-Kodiak winner moves forward to play top-seed Colony Thursday at 6 p.m. Second-seeded Wasilla meets the SoHi-Kenai winner Thursday at 8 p.m.

The winners of the late matches Thursday play Friday at 5 p.m., with a spot in the state tourney and NLC championship on the line. Losers of matches on Thursday can still fight through the bottom side of the bracket in the double-elimination format. The NLC title match is slated for Saturday at 1 p.m., with an if-necessary game at 3 p.m.

Moose score wins over Kodiak

The Palmer Moose capped the regular season with a pair of wins against a squad they’ll see during the first day of the region tournament.

Palmer improved to 5-5 in Northern Lights Conference play with a 3-1 (25-14, 32-30, 22-25, 28-25) win over Kodiak Saturday afternoon at Palmer High. The Moose swept the Bears 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 28-26) the night before.

The Moose enter the NLC Championships as the No. 4 seed in the conference, and open tournament play against fifth-seeded Kodiak Thursday in Kodiak. The Bears were 3-7 in regular season play.

Kristen Beames led the Moose during the series against the Bears collecting 13 kills in the first match, and 19 kills the following day. Mystery Showalter had a combined 40 digs in two matches.

Hawks, Huskies head to Homer

The Houston Hawks and Redington Huskies hit the court at Homer High School Friday, the first day of the Southcentral Conference Championships.

Houston finished 5-7 in conference play and earned the fourth seed in the conference. The Hawks face fifth-seeded Anchorage Christian (5-7) Friday at 10 a.m. in the first round. Redington (0-12) is the seventh seed and meets second-seeded Seward (9-3) Friday at 2 p.m.

Nikiski (12-0) is the top seed, and gets the first-round bye. The Bulldogs open against the Houston-ACS winner.

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