The host Kenai Central volleyball team topped Houston 25-1, 25-12 and 25-14 on Saturday in Southcentral Conference play.
The Kardinals moved to 2-0 in the league and 5-0 in nontournament play after also defeating Redington 3-0 on Friday at Kenai. Kardinals rolled past the Huskies 25-21, 25-6 and 25-18 in Southcentral play.
For the Kardinals on Friday, Valerie Villegas had 17 digs, Jorgi Phillips had 11 aces and 22 assists, Emma Beck had 11 kills, Andie Galloway had eight kills, Erin Kozickkowski had six kills and Cali Holmes had five kills.
Saturday, Phillips had seven aces and 21 assists, Galloway had 11 digs and five kills, Villegas had nine digs, Beck had 11 kills, Holems had nine kills and Koziczkowski had five kills.
Kenai coach Tracie Beck said Phillips is a junior coming into her own and had an amazing weekend. The highlight was Saturday’s first game against Houston, where she served 22 straight times. Making the feat even more amazing is that Phillips has a jump serve and used that all 22 times.
“It was pretty amazing,” Beck said. “It’s hard to sit back there and serve 22 times.”
Tracie Beck also said that Emma Beck leading both matches in kills adds another wrinkle to a team that already gets solid contributions from veterans Villegas, Koziczkowski and Galloway, and also got good play from Brooke Ashley over the weekend.
Homer 3, Soldotna 2
The visiting Mariners moved to 5-0 overall in nontournament play with a roller coaster victory over the Stars. SoHi fell to 1-5 overall.
The scores were 21-25, 25-8, 13-25, 25-15 and 13-15.
Soldotna coach Luke Baumer talked about the massive spreads in three of the five games after the match with Homer coach Stephanie Carroll.
“We both attributed it to missing out on a big year for these girls and still trying to play catchup,” Baumer said.
Baumer said the theory is experience makes it easier to turn the momentum in a match. With the lack of experience, matches are swinging wildly back and forth.
Gracie Gummer had 20 kills for the Mariners, while Izzy Dye had 12 kills, Brooke Shafer had 32 assists and Zoe Adkins had 15 digs.
Aleena Zener had 17 digs for the Stars, while Emma Brantley had 24 assists, Chloe Armstrong had 10 kills, Katelyn Morrison had nine kills, Adarra Hagelund had five blocks and Armstrong had four aces.
Baumer said, as usual, Zener kept SoHi in the match from the back row, while Brantley had a season high for assists.
The coach also said the play of freshman Regan Hunt at middle blocker and freshman Sadie Lane in the back row shows the future is bright for the program.
“I just hope we keep pushing and persevere and not judge where we are right now based on wins and losses,” Baumer said. “I still believe there is a peak coming for this team.”
Seward 3, Houston 1
The host Seahawks topped the Hawks 25-14, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-20 to move to 1-1 in the Southcentral Conference and 1-1 in nontournament play.
Seward 3, Redington 2
The Seahawks moved to 2-1 in the Southcentral Conference and 2-1 overall by overcoming the Huskies on Saturday.
The scores were 24-26, 25-20, 17-25, 25-18 and 15-8.
