The Soldotna volleyball team tied for fifth in the Silver Bracket at the 12-team Chugiak Invitational on Saturday.

The Stars were pushed into the Silver Bracket after finishing 2-7-1 in pool play on Friday.

In pool play, Soldotna lost to South 20-11 and 20-8, split with West with a 20-12 win and 17-12 loss, lost to Palmer 20-10 and tied with the Moose 17-17, lost to East 20-12 and 12-5, and split with Chugiak with a 12-4 win and 22-20 loss.

Saturday, Soldotna lost to West Valley and Colony.

The tournament was won by South, which finished 9-1 in pool play to take the top seed in the Gold Bracket.

The Wolverines then defeated East and Dimond twice on Saturday for the crown.

Homer 3, Seward 0

The host Mariners opened their season and Southcentral Conference play Friday by sweeping the Seahawks by scores of 25-16, 25-14 and 25-13.

Seward falls to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the league.

Homer coach Beth Trowbridge knows of Seward’s reputation for defense, so she was happy with the way her side attacked.

“We just knew from past experience if we didn’t come out aggressive in our serving and attacks, we’d get sucked into a back-and-forth game with them.”

Jane Rohr had 12 kills, only making two errors, while Kyla Pitzman has six kills.

Maryhana Bowe was dangerous on the serve and attack, getting three kills and four aces while hitting 11 of her 12 serves.

Larsen Fellows and McKi Needham added three aces, while libero Maggie LaRue had 13 digs.

Homer 3, ACS 1

The Mariners moved to 2-0 in the league and overall with a 25-17, 25-18, 22-25 and 25-17 victory Saturday over ACS.

Rohr had 11 kills with only two attacking errors, while Pitzman had 14 kills, Fellows had six and Needham had five.

Needham and Kelly Leibers each had four aces, while LaRue had three aces and only one serving error.

Fellows led in blocks with one solo and three assists, while LaRue had 12 digs, Pitzman had six digs and Needham added four digs.