Warriors finish 4th in state volleyball tourney

The Wasilla Warriors finished as one of the top four volleyball teams at the 4A level.

Bartlett ended Wasilla’s season with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-18) win over the Warriors during elimination play Friday night at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, but Wasilla used a win over a rival earlier in the day to solidify its top-4 finish at state. The Warriors beat Palmer 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-21) Friday afternoon.

Wasilla finished 2-2 in the tournament. The Warriors spiked Mid-Alaska Conference champion North Pole (25-8, 25-11, 25-16) during the first round Thursday. Dimond scored a 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-15) victory over the Warriors later Thursday.

Palmer was 1-2 in the tourney. The Moose opened with a 3-0 (20-25, 19-25, 17-25) loss to Bartlett in the first round on Thursday, but bounced back with a 3-1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-11, 25-17) over Southeast Conference champion Juneau-Douglas in an elimination match Friday morning. That moved the Moose into the matchup with the Warriors.

Palmer and Wasilla notched two of the Northern Lights Conference’s three state tournament berths during the region tourney last week. Palmer, the No. 4 seed in the five-team NLC, surged to the conference crown. Palmer beat Wasilla 3-1 in the NLC final. That came after Palmer scored 3-0 sweeps over Kodiak, top-seeded Colony and third-seeded Soldotna during the second day of the three-day event.

Palmer made its first appearance in the state tourney since 2016. The Warriors were in the state tourney for the fifth straight year.

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