Volleyball rivals on a collision course

Frontiersman.com

WASILLA — With a pair of wins over the weekend, the Wasilla Warriors are a victory away from clinching a first-round bye during the upcoming Northern Lights Conference Championships.

Wasilla improved to 6-3 in NLC play with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-21) win over Kenai Central Saturday at Wasilla High School.

Courtney Anthony and Cate Currier picked up 15 digs each to lead the Warriors. Currier also added three aces.

Brooke Queripel finished with a team-high five aces. She also collected six kills. Lindsey Cizek led Wasilla with 21 assists.

Thursday, Wasilla scored a 3-0 (25-9, 25-20, 25-13) win over the Soldotna Stars. Anthony led the Warriors with 15 digs and five aces. Currier added nine digs and a team-high seven aces. Leya DePreist finished with six kills and three blocks.

Wasilla hosts Palmer (4-3) next Tuesday (Oct. 27) at 6:30 p.m. at Wasilla High School. Wasilla can clinch the No. 2 seed in the NLC tourney, and a first-round bye, with a victory.

Kodiak (8-0) has already secured the top seed in the tournament, which starts Nov. 5 in Kenai.

The Moose split with the Kards and Stars. Palmer followed a come-from-behind win over Kenai Central with a 3-2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-19, 25-21, 11-15) loss to the Soldotna Stars Friday night at Palmer High.

Sammy Buresh notched nine kills for Palmer, which fell to 4-3 in NLC play. Carly Venzke finished with eight digs.

Thursday, Palmer rallied from an early two-set deficit to score the 3-2 (18-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-10, 15-7) win over the Kardinals. Buresh had nine kills, while Holly Corbin chipped in eight and Sarah LeCheminant added seven. Tiana Lee led the Moose with 26 assists, and Venzke led the Moose with 10 digs.

Colony also split with Kenai and Soldotna over the weekend.

The Knights scored their first NLC victory of the season, sweeping visiting Kenai 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-23) Friday night at Colony High. Mikara Kliwitter led Colont with seven kills and an ace. Eve Stephens added four kills and three blocks.

Saturday, Soldotna beat Colony 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-15). Kliwitter had nine kills, six digs and a block.