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The Chugiak volleyball team swept Soldotna 25-7, 25-16 and 25-14 Thursday in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament hosted by West in Anchorage.

"They came out and served hard," Stars head coach Bruce King said after the game. "We couldn't really handle their serves. When that happened, we couldn't run our offense."

King said his team would have had to play its best game and Chugiak would have had to play average for SoHi to win.

"Chugiak is considered by most to be the best in the state," King said. "They sure looked like it tonight."

Chugiak is the defending 4A state champs.

King said his team gave Chugiak too many free chances.

"When you shovel free balls to them, they eat you alive," he said. "That's pretty much what they did to us."

Rebecca Satethite led her team with 16 digs. Shana Powell had 12.

Powell also had six kills on the night.

Mariah Hamilton and Megan Hardy each had two blocks in the match.

Setter Emily Rohloff had 10 assists.

"Those stats tell you a lot about how the match went," King said.

SoHi takes on Juneau-Douglas today at 9 a.m. Juneau lost to Colony in three straight, 25-14, 25-24, 25-20, on Thursday.

Despite the loss, King said his goal has always been to be playing on Saturday. A win over Juneau would ensure that goal.

"We still have the opportunity to finish fourth in this tournament," King said. "We will show up tomorrow and play hard."