The host Soldotna volleyball team defeated Seward 25-15, 25-22 and 25-23 on Tuesday in nonconference action.
The Stars are now 2-5 in nontournament play, while the Seahawks are 0-2.
Both teams were coming off of a busy Friday and Saturday at the West Spiketacular, where Soldotna tied for third in the Silver Bracket and Seward tied for second in the Bronze Bracket.
With so much game play over the weekend, and little practice time before Tuesday’s match, Soldotna coach Luke Baumer and Seward coach Jodi Kurtz both had clear agendas.
The Stars lost both libero Clary Henry and middle blocker Abygale Shaeffer to injury for at least a couple of weeks in the tournament.
Baumer said Tuesday’s match was a chance to see how the Stars would play without two significant contributors.
Kiara Forkner stepped in at libero, while Bailey Conner was called up from the junior varsity to play middle blocker.
“They both stepped up in a really, really big way and filled some really important roles,” Baumer said. “I was very happy with how they performed.”
Kurtz said her team was specifically working on covering and defense against the Stars, but in general Seward is just getting more match experience.
The Seahawks lost five senior starters after last season, plus another key transfer. This year’s team is made up of two seniors, one junior, two sophomores and five freshmen.
“I want them to be happy about how they play and they know that, regardless,” Kurtz said. “When they lose like this, they play hard and they play good, and they’re proud of themselves.”
Baumer was definitely impressed with what Kurtz has put together in a short amount of time. The SoHi coach pointed out there are not a lot of players in the Seahawks program, so these young players will get a lot of high-quality reps and be a forced to be reckoned with.
“That’s going to be a really, really difficult team to play in a year or so,” Baumer said.
Seward’s inexperience did show in areas like serve-receive. The Stars put together 21 aces while only missing eight serves in controlling the match.
Baumer said the Stars are at a height disadvantage in the Northern Lights Conference, so serving is a way to make up for that.
“So we’re out there clocking serves in practice, and they know exactly how fast they are serving,” the coach said. “If it’s lower than 35 (mph), they gotta bump it up. They’ve got to swing faster.”
Sadie Lane led the Stars with six aces, while also getting 13 digs and nine kills. The most impressive ace of the night came from Katelyn Morrison, who had 14 kills.
In the third game, Morrison tried a top-spin jump serve. Baumer said he normally doesn’t allow the serve, because it’s easy to pass unless it reaches 45 mph. The coach said Morrison may have touched 50 mph in acing Seward. But on the next serve, the another drawback of the jump top — inconsistency — reared its head when Morrison hit the serve just long.
Nicole Dickinson followed up an all-tournament performance at the West Spike with 22 assists. Baumer said the chemistry between Dickinson and Morrison is the best he’s had as head coach.
Kurtz was encouraged with how Kyana Hutchinson looked after injuring an ankle during the West Spike. The coach also said freshman outside hitter Olive Sayler was hitting well and playing great defense. Kurtz also said Robin Cronin did a great job blocking.
Soldotna’s Sadie Lane attacks on Seward’s Robin Cronin on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022, at Soldotna High School in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
