Colony spikes Wolverines at 4A state; Dimond rolls

What you need to know:

• The Colony Knights earned a four-set victory over South Anchorage to remain undefeated in the Class 4A state volleyball tournament Thursday, recording 117 digs in a standout defensive performance.
• Taylor Passard led Colony with 28 kills and 23 digs, Emily DeHart recorded 52 assists and three aces, and Leanna Brockman earned Player of the Game honors with 13 kills.
• After Dimond swept Chugiak, the Knights and Lynx will meet Friday at 5:15 p.m. for a spot in the state championship match, with Colony looking to end Dimond’s 44-match in-state winning streak.

By Chanda File
Alaska Sports Report

The Colony Knights volleyball squad dug its way to a four-set victory over the South Anchorage Wolverines to stay undefeated in the 4A tournament on Thursday night.

The Knights made 117 digs in the defensive battle, coming up with an average of 29.3 per set in the 25-22, 25-21, 24-26, 25-16 victory at the Alaska Airlines Center.

So much of the sport centers on offense, but Colony sophomore setter Emily DeHart said the Knights dig being defensive stalwarts.

“It’s a group of really competitive, amazing girls,” said DeHart. “So we really like to scrap for it. I think some of us even prefer to get a really big dig over a block.”

DeHart led the Knights in assists — a whopping 52 — and in aces, nailing three on 25 serve attempts with just one error.

She was also one of six members of the Colony squad who posted double-digit digs in last night’s victory, earning 10 alongside sophomore outside hitter Taylor Passard (23), senior playmaker Alli Morrissey (23), senior libero Haiven Duguid (19), senior defensive specialist/opposite Saibree Noll (13), and senior opposite Hailey Biorn (11).

The Wolverines defense also stood out, led by sophomore libero Logan Larson’s selfless dives and outstretched saves alongside senior standout Jessica Gieser in the back row.

South fought back during the must-win third set to extend the match. Down the stretch, senior Gieser nailed a kill, following by an ace to extend South’s lead 21-17 and prompt a Colony timeout. As the Knights threatened to close in the sweep with four points in a row, tying it up at 24-24, sophomore middle Madeline Romerdahl and Gieser came up big once again, locking in the last two kills for a 26-24 win.

Prep Volleyball

ASAA/First National BankClass 4A State Tournament

🏐Thursday
First Round
Dimond 3, Juneau 0
Chugiak 3, Wasilla 0
South 3, Soldotna 1
Colony 3, West Valley 0

Second Round
Dimond 3, Chugiak 0
Colony 3, South 1

🏐Friday
Winner’s Bracket
5:15pm Colony vs. Dimond
Loser’s Bracket
10:00am Juneau vs. Wasilla
11:45am Soldotna vs. West Valley
1:30pm Juneau/Wasilla vs. South
3:15pm Soldotna/WV vs. Chugiak

🏐Saturday
4pm Title Match

For the Knights’ hitting efforts, Passard played her part, smashing 28 kills on a .420 attack percentage. Junior outside Leanna Brockman earned Player of the Game accolades for her performance on offense with 13 kills. Brockman managed to nail it just inside the back court line so many times that it looked like she was making use of a radar.

“I feel like the game went by so fast, but I wanted to play more,” said Brockman.

Last year’s state runner-up, Colony has been a force all season, culminating in a Northern Lights Conference title win last week.

The Knights are second only to the Dimond Lynx in the 4A volleyball standings — and now look to end the Lynx’s 44-match in-state win streak tonight at 5:15. South will look to eliminate the winner of Juneau-Douglas/Wasilla when they face off at 1:30 p.m.

Dimond sweeps Chugiak

Paddle in hand, the Dimond Lynx floated to another 3-0 sweep over the Chugiak Mustangs in Thursday’s second round tournament matches.

Dimond coach Kim Lauwers held the aforementioned paddle after the victory, saying that rowing the boat together has been the team’s mantra this season.

She explained that after emerging as regular season Cook Inlet Conference champions, followed by last week’s tournament victory, the Lynx earned a bigger paddle — now signed by the team and its coaches as they make their way through the state tournament.

“They’ve proved to themselves that they can do it together. It’s just a reminder to stay in sync,” said Lauwers. “They’ve got one compass in one direction, and the oar keeps you in line.”

The Lynx have a deep bench of experienced rowers — in particular, their senior class.

“Our sisterhood is really strong,” said junior setter/opposite and player of the game Anayah Sila, who has played with this senior class since middle school. “We want to finish and do this for our seniors.”

In the second set, Dimond gave up just four of the last 17 points, making good use of their versatile bench.

“I think we got our opponents out of system a lot,“ said Sila. “It gives us a chance to run our offense and speed it up a little bit with the faster pace.”

Senior middle Tepora Sega started it off with a kill, followed by an ace from junior libero Evie McKenna that fell right on the back court line. Sophomore middle Tatum Trombley smacked down another kill before McKenna landed another ace.

Chugiak responded with a kill from junior middle Kendall Folk, only to be met by a swing from Dimond senior outside Ailafo Fautanu, assisted by Sila.

After a Chugiak timeout, Fautanu came up big again with a kill to lock in a 20-12 Lynx lead, followed by senior outside Nia Cook and Trombley putting up a wall at the net to block a Mustang attempt. Chugiak’s Folk came back again to earn one more kill for the Mustangs, and Trombley responded with a kill of her own. On set point, Cook nailed a spike to the end line to seal the set for the Lynx.

Coach Lauwers added that her seven seniors are all practically assistant coaches out on the court.

“They’ll say, ‘okay, we’ve got it, coach,’” she said, noting that the team’s ability to handle pressure has improved significantly since last year’s state championship run. “These guys are keeping themselves loose, and I think they’re keeping themselves loose because of (the seniors) and that experience.”

Dimond will face the streaking Colony Knights tonight at 5:15 at the Alaska Airlines Center for a high-stakes, winner-advances-to-the-state-championship match. Chugiak’s next match will be at 3:15 against the winner of Soldotna-West Valley.