Wasilla scores first upset of NLC Volleyball Championships

PALMER — The Wasilla Warriors scored the first upset of the 2007 Northern Lights Conference Volleyball Championships, beating Soldotna 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23) at Palmer High School on Thursday.

The Warriors (2-8 in NLC regular season play) entered the tournament as the fourth seed from the Northern Division, and were paired against the Southern Division’s top seed, Soldotna (7-3).

But Wasilla showed the Warriors are more than just a fourth seed. The Warriors erased significant deficit late in both the third and fourth games to win both and move onto the semifinal round.

“We were sick of losing,” Wasilla senior co-captain Ashlen Welch said.

Welch was named Wasilla’s player of the match after 13 kills, 19 digs and six aces against the Stars.

Junior Jenna Johnson added a match-high 16 kills and 23 digs.

In other action, senior Hannah Curtis had a game-high 20 kills as the top-seeded Colony Knights swept the Kenai Central Kardinals earlier in the day.

Colony had no trouble with the Kardinals, which went 0-10 in Region III play during the regular season, winning 25-15, 25-13 and 25-20 to advance to Friday’s semifinals. Desi Diselrod had 22 assists and 12 digs for the Knights.

In Thursday’s opening first-round match, the Kodiak Bears withstood a late Homer comeback to win 3-2 and move into the second round.

The Skyview Panthers meet host Palmer in the final match of the day.

See www.frontiersman.com for continued updates and the Friday edition of the Frontiersman for full coverage of the tournament.