The Nikiski volleyball team pulled out a 25-18, 13-25, 25-21, 23-25 and 15-11 victory in Homer on Saturday.

The Bulldogs move to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in the Southcentral Conference while the Mariners fall to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the league.

Nikiski coach Stacey Segura said getting a five-set victory on the road in conference was huge, because she expects competition to be so close this season.

“The southern part of our region is going to be neck and neck,” Segura said. “Whoever decides to show up and play can take the game. It helps we have a lot of older senior experience.”

But Segura added she also has players in new roles, so that made the coach nervous headed into Game 5.

“The girls handled it well,” Segura said. “They kept their eyes off the scoreboard and played every single point like the next point wins. They took the pressure one point at a time.”

Homer coach Stephanie Carroll told the Homer News her squad made some costly errors, including missed serves.

“I feel like we made too many mistakes, that we kind of let that slip away,” Carroll told the Homer News.

America Jeffreys had 18 digs for Nikiski, while Kaitlyn Johnson and Jaycee Tauriainen each had 10 digs, and Elora Reichert had seven digs. Segura gave special mention to the job Reichert did at left back defense.

Johnson added 20 assists, while Kaycee Bostic had 12 kills and Lillian Carstens had 10 kills. Bostic added five aces, while Carstens added four blocks.

For Homer, Kelli Bishop had 24 assists and 10 digs, Laura Inama had eight kills, Karmyn Gallios had 12 digs and five kills, Kitri Classen had 13 digs and Marina Carroll had 11 kills and 15 digs.

Seward takes 6th at Valdez Tournament

The Seward volleyball team took sixth place at the Valdez Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Valdez.

The tourney was pure round robin. The Seahawks won seven of their 15 matches to take sixth.

Hannah Shilling and Angel Puriguy were named to the all-tournament team for Seward.

Homer’s Laura Inama jumps to spike the ball during a Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019 volleyball game against Nikiski at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)