Valley volleyball squads go 0-3 at NLC tourney

WASILLA — Things quickly went south for the three teams who traveled in that direction to reach the Northern Lights Conference volleyball tournament, where Mat-Su teams went 0-3 on Thursday, the opening day of the six-team tourney at Kenai Central High.

Although the road trip got off to a decidedly bumpy start, Colony, Wasilla and Palmer all remain in the hunt for a conference title or one of the league’s three state tournament berths. That road, however, will be longer than the distance between highway rest stops on the four-hour bus ride to Kenai.

Valley teams were dominated by their southern rivals, taking just one set in three opening-round matches — and that by the lowest seed among them as Colony eked out a set in its 3-1 loss (25-14, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19) to third-seeded Soldotna. Fourth-seeded Palmer was swept in its opening-round clash with the host Kardinals, as was Wasilla, which was stunned by the upstart Stars. Wasilla swept Soldotna during the regular season en route to a 7-3 conference record, but the second-seeded Warriors couldn’t keep up on Thursday, falling 25-15, 25-21, 25-21. A win in that match would have advanced Wasilla to state. Instead, they’ll have to get there the hard way by winning what amounts to a four-team tournament with Palmer, Colony and Kenai for the conference’s final state berth.

Soldotna and top-seeded Kodiak secured their state berths by going undefeated Thursday. The favored Bears – who were 10-0 during the regular season – mauled No. 5 seed Kenai 3-0 to set up a Friday showdown against Soldotna with a berth in the conference final on the line.

The fight to join SoHi and Kodiak in the top three begins at 11 a.m. Friday when Colony takes on Kenai in a loser-out contest. That match will be followed by a clash between Palmer and Wasilla at 1 p.m. The winners of those matches will play at 7 p.m. with a state tournament berth on the line. The losers will not.

NLC VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT

Thursday-Saturday

Cliff Massie Court, Kenai Central High

Thursday’s scores:

Soldotna 3, Colony 1 (25-14, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19)

Soldotna 3, Wasilla 0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-21)

Kenai 3, Palmer 0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-22)

Friday’s schedule:

Kenai vs. Colony, 11 a.m. (loser out)

Palmer vs. Wasilla, 1 p.m. (loser out)

Soldotna vs. Kodiak, 5 p.m. (winner to finals)

Colony/Kenai vs. Palmer/Wasilla, 7 p.m. (loser out, winner to state)

Saturday’s schedule:

Semifinal, 11 a.m.

Championship, 1 p.m. (if necessary match to follow)