Crimson Bears fall to Lynx in opening match at state volleyball tournament
- Klas Stolpe
- 55 minutes ago
- 5 min read
JDHS tripped up by Dimond on Thursday, look to regain footing Friday
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears ran into a Dimond Lynx roadblock on their journey Thursday in the 2025 ASAA Volleyball State Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center, falling 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-21).
“We definitely had some first-game jitters and our defense struggled against Dimond’s fast-paced offense, making it difficult to run some of our plays,” JDHS senior Gwen Nizich said. “There’s nothing that compares to the feeling of playing in this stadium and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be on this court with my team. We competed today and I’m looking forward to leaving it all out on the floor tomorrow.”
JDHS stayed up to the task against one of the state’s top teams and battled to six ties in the opening moments of set one with Nizich killing a shot for a 7-6 lead.
Dimond junior Ailafo Fautanu killed a shot for a 7-7 tie and service, and the Lynx would never trail again as they opened an 11-7 lead with Fautanu serving and getting help from a kill by senior Eva Johnson, and blocks by freshman Tatum Trombley and sophomore Lillian Kopecky.
JDHS’ Nizich killed for possession, but a service error gave Dimond a chance again and the Lynx went up 15-8 behind two service aces by junior Puao Asailevai.
JDHS senior Braith Dihle served an ace on the Crimson Bears' next possession to trail 15-9 and Nizich killed another shot after a Dimond score for 16-10, but a misshit gave the Lynx possession at 17-11 and Dimond senior Elena Snow served out the set 25-11, including a block by sophomore Anayah Sila, and kills by Trombley and junior Fuasala Fautanu.
“I think that even though it was a rough game, it was good that we were able to get used to playing on a new court and the environment at state,” Dihle said. “I felt that our front row did a good job of adjusting to the fast-paced offense and getting touches on their hits.”
Dimond had more command in set two and opened an 8-3 lead early. JDHS stayed close with rallies and a kill by senior Lavinia Ma’ake and Nizich with junior Liliane Veikoso and Dihle, respectively, on service.
A JDHS error put Dimond’s Sila on service and the Lynx pushed out to a 13-3 lead, including two kills apiece by junior Piper Boston and Eva Johnson, and another kill by Trombley.
In an exchange of rallies Dimond would lead 17-7 until Dihle killed a shot for possession and junior June Troxel gave the Lynx fits with her serve to pull with four at 14-13, including an ace and a Dihle kill.
Dimond would push out to a 22-13 lead, and JDHS would get two kills by sophomore Ruby Koski and another by Dihle to close to 23-17, before Dimond’s A. Fautanu killed for possession and Snow served set point backed with a kill by Sila for 25-17.
JDHS’ best set came next as they took a 3-1 lead early senior Cambry Lockhart on service and a left-handed score by Nizich and a kill by Veikoso.
"That was a tough game," Lockhart said following the match. "I am glad that we got it under our belt and adjusted to the court and arena. It is truly an incredible experience to get to play in that building. As for Dimond, I thought we competed well with them. The only thing I would say is that we needed to clean up our passes in order to give our hitters a good chance to put the ball down. If we were able to clean that up I think every set would have been like the third or even a better outcome. Tomorrow we need to focus on one point at a time and get through one game at a time. We are excited to hop out there tomorrow and hopefully make our way back up to the winners bracket."
Five ties later Dimond had a 10-8 lead until a misshit put JDHS’ Troxel at service and Nizich killed a shot to trail 10-9. Dimond would stay ahead via two-point scoring possessions and lead 21-15 with JDHS points coming on kills by Koski and Nizich. Dihle would kill for JDHS possession and Troxel served to within two points, 21-19, including kills by Dihle and senior Neela Thomas.
Dimond’s Trombley killed for service and a JDHS misshit put the Lynx up 23-19. Nizich killed for JDHS possession, and Veikoso served to force a misshit and to close to 23-21. A kill by Dimond junior Nia Cook earned Lynx possession and Sila killed for set and match point at 25-21.
“Heading into tomorrow, our team needs to focus on steady passing and running our offense,” Dihle said. “When we are hitting, it disrupts the other team’s defense and therefore their offense as well. I am super excited for tomorrow, and I look forward to the challenge.”
The Southeast Region V volleyball champions JDHS will next play an elimination game at 11:45 a.m. Friday against the Mid Alaska Conference champions Lathrop Malemutes who lost to the Northern Lights Conference runner-up Colony Knights 3-0 (25-6, 25-22, 25-13). Dimond, the Cook Inlet Conference tournament runner-up, advances into a 7 p.m. Thursday winners' bracket match against Colony.
“They worked hard for sure and never gave up,” JDHS coach Jody Levernier said of the Crimson Bears. “The first and third set they passed much better which allowed them to attack the ball. The more we attacked the closer we stuck with them. They have to remember that tomorrow. Good passes lead to our hitters being able to swing away. We need to attack first.”
In other 4A tournament action the CIC at-large seed Service Cougars toppled the NLC number one Soldotna Stars 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 26-24). The CIC third-place Chugiak Mustangs upended the CIC number-one seed South Anchorage Wolverines in a five-set thriller 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 25-19, 17-25, 15-13).
Chugiak and Service played in a winners bracket game at 5:15 p.m. Thursday - that contest was not complete by this posting.
South and Soldotna will fight to stay alive in elimination play at 10 a.m. Friday.
The 3A state tournament began on Thursday with the Southeast Conference champion Sitka Wolves falling to the Southcentral Conference number two Kenai Kardinals by the score of 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-21) and the Aurora Conference number one Valdez Buccaneers sweeping the Western Conference number two Nome Nanooks 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-22).
The Western Conference number one Barrow Whalers fell to the Aurora Conference number two Monroe Rams 3-2 and the Southcentral Conference number one Nikiski Bulldogs swept the Western Conference at-large selection Kotzebue Huskies 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-19).
Kenai played Valdez in a later winner's bracket game Thursday and Monroe faced Nikiski - those scores were not complete by this posting.
In elimination play on Friday Sitka faces Nome at 10 a.m. and Barrow plays Kotzebue at 11:45 a.m.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
