Volleyball: Moose sweep Colony

PALMER — Palmer’s senior hitters, Mariah McNamara and Leiah Reichel, have helped the Moose become one of the top teams in the Northern Lights Conference this season.

But Thursday Palmer used a more balanced attack to get the best of its rival. Led by four players with at least eight kills, Palmer scored a 3-0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-20) win over the Knights at Colony High School.

“You can’t rely on the same ones all of the time,” Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said after the win. “I felt like everyone at times had their moments.”

McNamara led the Moose with a dozen kills. Reichel and Ellen Groseclose added nine each, while Sammy Buresh added eight.

“We’ve been working on doing better as a team, everybody contributing something,” Reynolds said.

Carly Venzke finished with eight digs for the Moose. Allie McPheters had 17 assists. Reynolds also noted key plays by players who may not show up among the leaders.

“Ellen had some good blocks at key times, Holly Corbin had a beautiful dig that was big,” Reynolds said.

Palmer improved to 6-1 in NLC play with the victory. Colony slipped to 4-5 win the loss.

Both teams came into the match on a winning streak. All three Valley 4A teams (Colony, Palmer and Wasilla) beat both Soldotna and Kenai last week.

“They swept both in three. We didn’t,” Reynolds said of Colony’s wins over SoHi and Kenai. “Colony has been playing well. They beat Wasilla, beat the Peninsula teams.”

After Palmer beat Colony 25-14 in the first game Thursday, the second and third games were both tight. Colony led at several points in those games, but the Moose were able to secure each game late.

“They were close,” Reynolds said. “In the second game, we gave away a bucket load of points.”

Both teams will play in the annual Dimond/Service Tournament next week in Anchorage. Colony also hosts Thunder Mountain in a nonconference match Thursday at 6 p.m. Palmer hosts Lathrop Thursday at 6:30 p.m.