Crimson Bears fall to Lynx in opening match at state volleyball tournament

JDHS tripped up by Dimond on Thursday, look to regain footing Friday

Dimond sophomore Anayah Sila and Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Gwen Nizich were selected Player Of The Match for their contributions in the Lynx and Crimson Bears meeting during day one of the state volleyball tournament Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, at Anchorage's Alaska Airlines Center. Dimond defeated JDHS 3-0. (Photo courtesy of Jody Levernier)

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, the Cook Inlet Conference tournament runner-up, 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 JDHS' Dihle killed a shot for possession and junior June Troxel gave the Lynx fits with her serve to pull within 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 with senior Cambry Lockhart on service, including 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.”

Nizich led JDHS with eight kills in 19 attempts with 10 hits still in play; Dihle six kills in 21 attempts with 12 hits still in play; Koski five kills in 17 attempts with eight hits still in play; Senior Natalie Travis, junior Brie Powers, Troxel, Ma’ake and Thomas one kill each.

Troxel led with nine points on serve including one ace, Dihle five points including two aces, Ma’ake three points, Veikoso two points including one ace, Lockhart one point on an ace and Cooper one point.

Lockhart led with 14 digs, Ma’ake 12, Dihle eight, Troxel five, Powers and Veikoso four apiece, Nizich three, Harris two and Koski one. Dihle had 24 pass attempts, Lockhart and Ma’ake 16 apiece, Koski six, Troxel four and Veikoso one. Veikoso had 12 assists and Powers 11.

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 Thursday to the Northern Lights Conference runner-up Colony Knights 3-0 (25-6, 25-22, 25-13).

“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 Thursday, the CIC at-large seed Service Cougars toppled the NLC number one Soldotna Stars 3-0 (25-13, 25-23, 26-24), and 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 next defeated Service 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-12) in the winners bracket to earn a spot in the 5:15 p.m. Friday semifinal against Colony, who defeated Dimond 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21).

South and Soldotna will fight to stay alive in elimination play at 10 a.m. Friday. The winner will play an elimination game against Dimond at 1:30 p.m. Service will play an elimination game at 3:15 p.m. against the winner of JDHS and Lathrop.

The 3A state tournament began 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 defeated Valdez 3-2 (12-25, 17-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-11) and Nikiski topped Monroe 3-2 (21-25, 25-16, 24-26, 25-19, 16-14) to earn the 5:15 p.m. Friday semifinal.

In elimination play Friday, Sitka faces Nome at 10 a.m. and Barrow plays Kotzebue at 11:45 a.m. Valdez will play the winner of Sitka/Nome at 1:30 p.m. and Monroe will play the winner the Barrow/Kotzebue at 3:15 p.m.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.