Soldotna High School
Volleyball
Soldotna High School hosted the Northern Lights Region III volleyball tournament last weekend and claimed the championship title for the third time in the program’s history. The Stars are competing in the 4A state tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage this weekend, Nov. 13-15.
Under head coach Luke Baumer, the Stars fought through a tough bracket in last week’s tournament, SoHi athletic secretary Julia Horstman wrote Tuesday, beating Palmer and Colony high schools. They opened the tournament with a five-set victory over the Palmer Moose before advancing to the semifinals, where they beat the Colony Knights in four sets. They faced Colony again in the final championship match.
After losing the first championship match to Colony, the Stars rallied during a decisive tiebreaker, winning 30-28 in a “thrilling” final set and securing the program’s first championship title in 13 years. SoHi won their first championship in 1984 and took home their second title under head coach Bruce King in 2012.
Grayson Henry led the team in aces and digs during the first round (W, 3-2) against Palmer, with four and 20 respectively. At the net, Cassidy Kruse had four blocks and tied with Gracelyn Altobelli for the highest number of kills at 11 each. Teagen Kobylarz had 34 assists.
In the semifinal game against Colony (W, 3-1), Morgan Simac led the team with 17 kills and 21 digs. Kobylarz again had over 30 assists while Altobelli served up five aces. Rebekah Pieh defended the net, leading the team with five blocks.
During the championship match against Colony, Simac had 14 kills while Altobelli and Pieh each had nine. Kobylarz again had 33 assists, and Henry bagged 15 digs and two aces. Kruse also had three blocks.
Swim
At the ASAA State Swim and Dive Championship meet held last weekend, Nov. 7-8 in Anchorage, Michael Davidson finished sixth in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke. Dwight Brown finished 10th in the boys’ 500-yard freestyle. Zoe Burns finished 12th in the girls’ 500-yard freestyle.
“We are very proud of all of our swimmers and happy with how they performed at state! Congratulations to all three,” Horstman said Tuesday in an email to the Clarion.
