The Nikiski volleyball squad rolled to a three-set sweep of Southcentral Conference foe Homer Tuesday night to set up its first opportunity to clinch the conference crown.
The Bulldogs beat the Mariners with scores of 25-9, 25-8 and 25-20 on Homer’s home court.
At 10-0 in the conference (12-1 overall), Nikiski can clinch the title and top seed — along with the first-round bye in the region tournament — with a win over Anchorage Christian on Thursday. Grace Christian currently sits second in the standings with two losses to its credit. Nikiski topped ACS in four games earlier this year.
“Thursday’s game is very important,” said Nikiski head coach Stacey Segura. “I’m excited for the end of the season to be wrapped up and get regions started, and the girls are determined to get that No. 1 seed and get a bye.”
The Bulldogs travel for a pair of games at ACS and Houston this weekend.
Homer finished its conference season at 2-10, and will have 10 days of inactivity while awaiting the Southcentral Conference tournament on its home floor starting Nov. 3.
Tuesday night, the Bulldogs flaunted their defensive depth with dominating performances, led by senior Melanie Sexton’s 14 digs and six aces and Alysa Fardin’s 13 digs and six aces. Kelsey Clark and America Jeffries each added 10 digs.
Also for Nikiski, Bethany Carstens notched seven kills, Emilee Tyner and Jamie Yerkes each had five kills, Kaitlyn Johnson provide 21 assists and Emma Wik added five assists.
Segura said the team goal was to stay consistent.
“Our goal was to control the tempo of the game, which I thought we did a really good job of doing that,” she said. “If they’re picking up our hard hits, try to throw in a tip and off speed attack to change it up.”
Kitri Classen provided solid defense for Homer with 16 digs, while Marina Carroll scored four kills and had three blocks. Brianna Hetrick added 17 digs and nine assists and Kelli Bishop had four kills.
