Saturday: SoHi volleyball takes 2nd at Northern Lights Conference tourney to advance to state; state brackets released

The Soldotna volleyball took second place at the Northern Lights Conference volleyball tournament Saturday at Kodiak High School to earn a berth to the Class 4A state tournament for the first time since 2019.

Thursday, the Stars, the No. 3 seed, started the tournament with a five-set loss to No. 2 Colony. Soldotna also lost two five-set matches to the Knights on the final weekend of the regular season.

Friday, Soldotna stayed alive in the playback bracket by defeating No. 4 Kodiak in five sets and No. 5 Palmer in five sets.

Saturday, SoHi beat Colony 25-20, 20-25, 25-19 and 25-21 to make state and advance to the championship. No. 1 Wasilla won the title 25-17, 25-7 and 25-19.

“We played all those sets to get to the championship game,” SoHi coach Luke Baumer said. “I’m happy that the girls were still able to stand on their feet.”

Baumer said he showed the team a clip from “D3: The Mighty Ducks” before the tournament. The clip says defense is about confidence despite not possessing the puck.

“Don’t be careless, but don’t be too careful either,” Coach Orion says. “You cannot be afraid to lose.”

Baumer said the mantra was big for SoHi all tournament, particularly after going down two sets to Palmer on Friday.

“It didn’t look good, it didn’t look like we were going to pull this one out,” Baumer said of the Palmer match. “But after we got done with the second set, we had to play like we couldn’t be afraid to lose.”

Against Colony on Saturday, Athena Rossiter had a personal-best 17 kills and an ace. It was the first time Rossiter led in kills all season.

Sadie Lane, who made the NLC first team, had 30 digs, 16 kills and an ace. Setter Nicole Dickinson also made the first team.

Also against the Knights, Kiara Forkner had 19 digs and two aces, Veronica Crane had 19 digs, Abygale Shaeffer had seven kills and one block, and Hallie Fischer had five kills and four blocks.

Baumer said it’s rare for everybody on a 12-man roster to get in during a conference tournament, but he said he needed all 12 with playing so many sets.

“It took everybody,” he said.

That includes assistants Drewe Zeek, Dacia Cunningham and Josie Cannon.

“There’s no way we would be as good as we are without those three,” he said.

Baumer said this is really the first time his program ever made state, because in 2019 he had just taken over for Sheila Kupferschmid.

“This is the first group I had in my program working with me since they were freshmen,” Baumer said. “It’s a big moment for me and very sentimental.

“It’s very exciting for me, and very exciting for everybody.”

The Stars open the Class 4A state tournament Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage with a 10 a.m. game against Cook Inlet Conference champ East.

Northern Lights Conference awards

MVP — Rylee Pitney, Wasilla.

Coach of the Year — Katie Oxspring, Wasilla.

First team — Jisselle Blanco, Kodiak; Maria Bunch, Colony; Khloe Ivey, Palmer; Nicole Dickinson, Soldotna; Audrey Cahill, Palmer; Allison Devine, Wasilla; Mylee Anderson, Wasilla; Sadie Lane, Soldotna; Layla Hays, Wasilla.

Second team — Brooke Hindmand, Colony; Amirah Oskolkoff, Kodiak; Kiara Forkner, Soldotna; Malie Matthews, Colony; Kate Holland, Kodiak; Kiara Johnson, Colony; Athena Rossiter, Soldotna; Serenity Bushell, Kodiak; Kendall Ketchum, Colony.

Good sport — Taylor Rindal, Palmer; Darlene Luzano, Kodiak; Mylee Anderson, Wasilla; Khali Alexander, Colony; Veronica Crane, Soldotna.

Class 4A state tournament

Thursday’s games

Game 1 — East vs. Soldotna, 10 a.m.

Game 2 – West Valley vs. Service, 11:45 a.m.

Game 3 — Wasilla vs. Dimond, 1:30 p.m.

Game 4 — Thunder Mountain vs. South, 3:15 p.m.

Game 5 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 5:15 p.m.

Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m.

Friday’s games

Game 7 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 10 a.m.

Game 8 — Game 3 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 11:45 a.m.