Valley volleyball teams score wins on Peninsula

KENAI — The Palmer volleyball team rolled to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-12 Northern Lights Conference victory over Kenai Central on Wednesday.

“I thought we started really anxiously,” Palmer head coach Jayme DeHart said after the Moose moved to 1-0 in the league and 1-1 overall. “As the match went on, we calmed down and got better ball control.”

DeHart credited her entire back row for taking control of the match, but singled out seniors Mystery Showalter and Gina Bodnar. Showalter had eight digs, while Bodnar compiled five aces.

In Game 3, Bodnar served the Moose to a 15-0 lead.

Kenai co-coach Jason Diorec does not have the same experience to lean on in the back row now, and it showed in the Kardinals’ ballcontrol.

“We are a young team,” Diorec said after Kenai fell to 0-1 in the league and 0-2 overall. “We are focused on ball control right now.”

Diorec said he continues to see quick progress in the ball control department. He expects to continue when the Kards host Colony Thursday at 6 p.m. at Friday at 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, Palmer travels to take on Soldotna today at 6 p.m.

“That’s what we get from the Valley teams coming down here — we get repetitions,” Diorec said. “There are always great teams in the Valley.”

The Kards received nine kills from Mayzie Potton and six kills from Sam Kompkoff. Maddie Galloway had 16 assists and thre eaces, while Jaiden Streiff pitched in two aces.

“Once we have ball control, we’re running a quick offense that has four or five hitters at one time,” Diorec said. “We just need toget the ball to the setter.”

Diorec also said the team got a boost in Game 3 from Abby Every.

“She’s a freshman, and it was a chance to take a look,” Diorec said. “She’s aggressive and full of energy and effort. We put her into see how she would do when the pressure was on, and she did great.”

As the match wore on, Palmer found the setter more and more and that led to eight kills for Kristen Beames.

“Every week, we’re showing improvement in our attack,” DeHart said. “We’re still hoping to get even better there.”

Soldotna 3, Palmer 1

The host Stars notched a Northern Lights Conference victory over the Moose on Thursday.

SoHi moved to 1-0 in the league and 1-1 overall, while Palmer dropped to 1-1 in the league and 1-2 overall.

"I told my kids it was a very sweet win for them," SoHi coach Sheila Kupferschmid said. "I have three seniors. We are very young.

"The kids really controlled the ball well today so we could do something."

Kupferschmid said middle hitters Aliann Schmidt and Bailey Leach stood out. Schmidt had 13 kills and four solo blocks, while Leach had six kills, 16 service points and two blocks.

The SoHi coach also liked the smart, all-around game of Shay Zener. Zener had eight kills, 18 digs and 10 service points.

Also for SoHi, Ella Stenga had five kills and 16 digs, Kodi McGillivray had a kill and 12 service points, Patricia Catacutan had 17 digs, Holleigh Jaime had seven digs and Kalyn McGillivray had eight digs.

Kupferschmid said Cally Christensen did a great job directing the attack, with 29 set assists and 10 service points.

Soldotna hosts NLC opponents Colony today at 6 p.m. and Wasilla on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

Houston 3, Homer 2

The visiting Hawks notched a 25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 23-25 and 15-8 victory over the Mariners in Southcentral Conference play.

Raisa Basargin had 25 digs for the Mariners, while Karmyn Gallios had 10 kills, Kelli Bishop had eight kills and Kelsea Sctt had four aces.

Homer hosts Redington today at 6:30 p.m. and Grace Christian on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Colony 3, Kenai Central 0

The visiting Knights notched a 25-14, 25-13 and 25-7 Northern Lights Conference victory over the Kardinals on Thursday.

Kenai hosts Wasilla today at 6 p.m.

Seward 3, Redington 0

The host Seahawks controlled a Southcentral Conference match against the Huskies on Thursday.

Seward hosts Grace today at 5 p.m. and Houston on Saturday at noon.

Contact Peninsula Clarion sports editor Jeff Helminiak at jeff.helminiak@peninsulaclarion.com.