Warriors split matches during opening day of state volleyball tourney

WASILLA — On a busy day for the Wasilla volleyball team, the Warriors found themselves on both ends of a sweep.

After beating Juneau-Douglas 3-0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-17) Thursday morning, the Warriors suffered a 3-0 (20-25, 15-25, 14-25) loss to South Anchorage later during the first day of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Volleyball Championships at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

“Tomorrow’s another day,” Wasilla head coach Josie Cannon said by cellphone from Anchorage Thursday evening. “It’s a double-elimination tournament, so they’ve got to beat us twice.”

Olivia Vincent posted a team-high eight kills for the Warriors during the win over the Crimson Bears. Frederica Freschi collected 11 digs for the Warriors. Andraia Bella added eight digs and a half-dozen kills.

“Everybody played really well. Everybody played like we trained all season,” Cannon said of her team’s work against Juneau, the Southeast Conference champions.

Cannon said the Warriors looked good against South early, and led 15-8 in the first game at one point, before hitting a wall. Vincent also had eight kills against South. Bella led the Warriors with 20 digs. Bella and Victoria Malek had seven kills each.

With the loss, Wasilla moves down to the bottom of the bracket, and will face either Palmer or West Valley Friday at 1:15 p.m. at the Alaska Airlines Center. Cannon said either way, she’s expecting a tough match.

“I’m excited to see who comes out ahead,” Cannon said of the Palmer-West Valley match.

Palmer, one of two Valley teams to fall during the first round, can keep its season alive with a win over the Wolfpack Friday at 9:45 a.m. Defending state champion Dimond, the top seed from the Cook Inlet Conference, swept Palmer 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-15) Thursday morning. South beat Colony, the Northern Lights Conference champions, 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 25-15) Thursday morning.

Colony plays Juneau Friday at 8 a.m. With a win over the Bears, Colony would play Bartlett Friday at 11:30 a.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.