Crimson Bears ready to volley in final home match

JDHS hosts Cordova for senior night Thursday, open JIVE tourney Friday

In this September file photo, Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé seniors June Troxel (1) and Haley Gilbert (7) attempt to block a spike by Mt. Edgecumbe senior Gracelynn Friske (1) — from Sitka — during Region V volleyball action inside the George Houston Gymnasium. JDHS will honor their volleyball seniors at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, before playing Cordova. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

By Klas Stolpe  

Juneau Independent

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears will honor their senior players at 6 p.m. Thursday before playing the Cordova Wolverines at 7:30 p.m. JDHS will also host the Juneau Invitational Volleyball Extravaganza (JIVE) beginning Friday.

The JDHS seniors are managers Aylin Wolter and Jethro Canos and players June Troxel, Macy Summers, Faith Contreras, Brianna (Brie) Powers, Analia Perry, Haley Gilbert, Liliane Veikoso, Clairee Overson, Leila Cooper, Cassandra (Cassie) Chenoweth, Taylor Petrie, Regan Salisbury, Kristyanna (Kristy) Lohrey, August Rathbone and Ysabella Healey.

JDHS is coming off a long road trip. The Crimson Bears lost to the Colony Knights in Palmer 3-0 (25-8, 25-16, 25-10) and then battled in the West Anchorage Spiketacular tournament.

“We did not play horrible,” JDHS coach Arnold Ibias said. “We were doing well on the things that we talked about and worked on during practice. We struggled with the routine plays. Colony has some really good hitters and that shocked us a bit. We were picking up confidence as the matches went on. The errors really hurt us giving away points.”

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears volleyball seniors will be celebrated on Thursday. Shown are, front row, left to right, June Troxel (1), Taylor Petrie (5), Regan Salisbury (7), Kristyanna Lohrey (8) and Macy Summers (4). Back row, L-R, are Aylin Wolter (stats manager), Faith Contreras (11), Brianna Powers (3), Analia Perry (10), Haley Gilbert (7), Liliane Veikoso (17), Clairee Overson (8), Leila Cooper (5), and Cassandra Chenoweth (15). Not pictured are senior manager Jethro Canos and players August Rathbone and Ysabella Healey. The celebration begins at 6 p.m., Thurs. Oct 1, 2026, before the 7:30 p.m. match against Cordova in the George Houston Gymnasium. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Independent)

In the Spiketacular, 21 teams were divided into three pools to determine bracket seeding.

JDHS went 0-6 in pool play, losing to Kodiak (25-20, 25-21), Chugiak (25-9, 25-12), Nikiski (25-18, 25-23), Homer (25-22, 23-25, 15-11), Wasilla (25-14, 25-13) and South (25-10, 25-9).

Those results put JDHS in the bronze tournament bracket, where they lost to Lathrop (25-22, 23-25, 16-14). Lathrop won the bronze title over Nome (25-21, 20-25, 15-9). Kodiak and JDHS tied for third and Ketchikan placed fifth.

“The tournament was exactly what we needed to gauge where we are at as a team,” Ibias said. “We need to see those top five teams. Sometimes we get comfortable in our pond and thinking we are doing fine being competitive in the Southeast region. Then we go to the big pond, which is Anchorage, and realize we have to work harder at the things we thought we were good at. Our season goal is to be competitive with those top five teams. The scores of the matches do not tell the story of how the girls got better as the tournament continued. We are getting there both physically and mentally. The mental game is what we need to improve on. We have to start strong and keep pressure on the opposing team and then learn to finish the match.”

Nikiski won the silver tournament title, defeating Soldotna (25-20, 25-22). Service and Homer tied for third place, and Grace, West Valley, Bartlett and East tied for fifth.

Dimond won the top gold tournament bracket title, defeating Colony (25-13, 25-21). Chugiak and South tied for third. Wasilla, West Anchorage, Palmer and Kenai tied for fifth.

“I can tell we are growing. We are able to pick ourselves up when we are struggling and the girls are able to make adjustments on their own on the court,” Ibias said. “They are not waiting for adjustments from the coaches. Obviously the outcome of the matches is not what we wanted, but as a team we are seeing this whole season as a process and if we are all on the same page and remember it is a process to get to where we want to be and not focus on the individual match outcomes we will get to our end goal. There are no shortcuts.”

JDHS will host Haines, Ketchikan, Metlakatla, Cordova, Sitka, Skagway and the JDHS JV in the JIVE at the George Houston Gymnasium. Action starts with pool play from 4-7 p.m. Friday and continues into Saturday, from 8-11 a.m., with final placings from noon through 3 p.m.

The JIVE tournament Gold Bracket begins at 4:30 p.m. Saturday with play fueling the championship game at 8:15 p.m.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com