WHS, CHS to play for spot in state

Frontiersman

SOLDOTNA — It’s going to take a win over a Valley team to earn the chance to play another match in the Valley.

Wasilla and Colony each earned wins during the first round of the Northern Lights Conference Championships volleyball tournament at Skyview High School on Thursday. Those victories set up an all-Valley semifinal, and the winner of that match earns a spot in the 4A state championships, which is slated to start next Thursday at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla.

“I think it’s going to be a great game,” Wasilla head coach Claudia Farias Pinard said by cell phone of the semifinal match, which is slated for today at 5 p.m. at Skyview High School in Soldotna.

Wasilla, the top seed in the NLC North Division, advanced to the semifinals with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-17) win over Kenai Central during the opening match of the day. In the following match, Colony edged second-seeded Soldotna 3-2.

Junior Sariah Tuisaula led the Warriors with nine kills and an ace during the first-round win over the Kardinals.

“She played outstanding today,” Farias Pinard said. “Her serving, her hitting. She was outstanding.”

Senior Aryn Crane added five kills for Wasilla.

Farias Pinard said the one knock on her team’s game Thursday afternoon was passing, which she said explains the close game scores.

“Tomorrow, if we play our game, it will make life easier,” Farias Pinard said. “This is the time of year when you can’t make any mistakes.”

Senior Shellina Irwin posted a team-high 17 kills and 13 digs to lead the Knights to the tough 3-2 (25-11, 20-25, 25-21, 21-25, 15-11) win over the Soldotna Stars. Junior Tess Forstner and sophomore Mary Klapperich collected 11 kills each during the victory, and Klapperich contributed a team-best eight blocks.

Moose advance

Palmer made it a clean sweep for Valley teams in the tournament’s opening round, topping Homer 3-0 (25-15, 25-14, 25-10). The Moose started the first game a little shaky, but soon settled into a good groove, said head coach Steve Reynolds.

“That first game, we had a little bit of nerves to start, so it took us about the first 10 points of the game to get going,” he said. “After that, things went pretty smoothly. We passed well. Morgan Morfe, she’s our specialist-type person, she had a good night passing.”

The coach also praised Jenna Arlow, who “was doing a great job of delivering the ball” on Thursday.

As a reward, the Moose will play Skyview in the semifinals today at 7 p.m. Although Skyview’s the No. 1 seed in the South bracket of the regionals, Palmer has the potential to make the finals and qualify for the state tournament, Reynolds said.

“Playing Skyview in their gym, a Friday night game, that’s going to be a tough match,” he said. “We’re going to have to play well, and they were playing really well tonight.

“In high school volleyball, it’s all about playing well together all on the same night. We’re going to have to play a pretty clean game and be pretty aggressive against them.”

Skyview swept Kodiak 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-23).

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com. Follow him at Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.