The Soldotna volleyball team notched road Northern Lights Conference victories against Palmer on Friday and Colony on Saturday.
The Stars moved to 12-4 overall and 5-4 in the NLC after dropping the opener on the trip to Wasilla on Thursday.
“I thought all three of our teams had a great weekend,” SoHi coach Sheila Kupferschmid said. “There was great chemistry amongst the kids and it was just a good, fun weekend.”
Friday, the Stars topped Palmer 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 21-25 and 15-11 victory.
Kupferschmid said her seniors really came through in the match, and added the hard-hitting affair was fun to watch.
Judah Aley had eight kills and 16 other hits for SoHi, while Makenna Rosin had four kills and 10 hits, Drewe Zeek had three kills and five hits, and Sylvia Tuisaula had six kills.
The back row played well, with Shaylynn Zener leading the way with 36 passes. Kearstin Yarnes and Lindsey Wong both set and also played in the back row.
The top servers for SoHi were Rosin with 18 points and Wong with 16 points.
Saturday, SoHi swept Colony 25-21, 25-19 and 25-15.
Aley had seven kills and seven service points, while Zeek had seven kills and two blocks. Kupferschmid said Aley is playing great as an outside hitter, while Zeek played her best match of the year.
Also for SoHi, Rosin had five kills, three blocks and nine service points; Tuisaula had five kills and 11 service points; Wong had four blocks and 11 service points; and Zener had eight service points.
Kupferschmid said the back line was solid on defense and SoHi’s serve really bothered Colony.
Colony sweeps Kenai
The host Colony volleyball team swept Kenai on Friday in NLC play. The scores were 25-15, 25-22 and 25-23 as the Kards dropped to 6-6 and 2-6 in the NLC.
The results of Kenai’s Saturday match was not available as the Clarion went to press.
Nikiski loses to Grace, sweeps Houston
The Nikiski volleyball team finished its road trip by losing to Grace Christian on Friday before sweeping Houston on Saturday.
The Bulldogs are now 4-4 in the Southcentral Conference and 4-6 overall.
Nikiski lost 25-16, 25-17 and 25-14 to Grace. Brianna Vollertson had four aces, while Ayla Pitt had six kills and two blocks, and Lauren O’Brien had 15 digs.
“We worked a lot harder than what the score showed,” Nikiski coach Stacey Segura said. “We just came out lacking some intensity so we got to use the whole bench that game.
“I decided to put players in who would be intense. We were really intense in the last game, but it was too late.”
Saturday, the Bulldogs topped Houston 25-21, 25-19 and 25-17.
Emily Hensley had seven aces and seven digs, Melanie Sexton had six kills, Pitt had two blocks and O’Brien had 15 digs.
Segura said Vollertson missed the match with an illness, so Hensley, normally the setter, had to step into her spot.
That moved freshman Emma Wik to setter. Segura said the switch made it impossible to work on hitting, but added that Wik, with 10 assists, did a great job and was consistent enough to get the Bulldogs the sweep.
“We did stay consistent and make it a three-game match,” Segura said. “That was our goal at the end of the day.”
Seward drops matches to ACS, Grace
The Seward volleyball team fell on the road to ACS and Grace Christian, losing to ACS in four on Friday and Grace in three on Saturday.
The Seahawks are now 1-7 in the Peninsula Conference and 1-9 overall.
Coach Jamie Fredrickson said the team is plagued by injuries right now, especially at setter. The coach said senior Chloe Baldwin, normally an outside hitter, did a good job stepping up at setter Thursday against Houston and against ACS.
Fredrickson added that Tia Miranda had a great weekend of serving, with two aces against Houston, two aces against ACS and six against Grace.
