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Crimson Bears win JIVE over Cordova
JDHS JV makes a push in the semifinals, but loses to varsity
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears seemed to stack the courts in their favor during the Juneau Volleyball Extravaganza, with the varsity Crimson Bears defeating their junior varsity counterparts in the Saturday semifinals and then topping Cordova in the finals later in the evening.
The Crimson Bears toppled the Wolverines 2-0 (25-16, 25-18) behind 13 points scored on serve by senior Liliane Veikoso and five apiece from senior Brie Powers and junior Nellie Stowers. Junior Ruby Koski had 13 kill attempts, senior Haley Gilbert and Veikoso nine apiece, and senior June Troxel seven. Veikoso had nine assists and Powers seven.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our program,” JDHS coach Arnold Ibias said. “We had a lot to be excited about. It was nice to bring back the championship to Juneau. It has been since 2013 that JDHS has won the tournament. This was the first time that the JD JVs had made a gold bracket.”
JDHS statistics shared by the Crimson Bears in their 16 games show a powerful hitting team with strong rotation balance.
Veikoso had 51 points scored on serve, Powers 46, Troxel 38, Gilbert 38, Stowers 33, senior Leila Cooper 24, seniors Clairee Overson and Analia Perry four apiece, and senior Faith Contreras two.
Veikoso led with 24 aces, Gilbert 17, Troxel 15, Powers 10, Cooper and Stowers nine apiece, Perry and Contreras two apiece, and Overson one.
“My thoughts for this weekend are very clear to everyone,” Veikoso said. “The only thing our team wanted to do this weekend is win and that is what we did. We won, we stayed consistent, stayed hyped and by doing all that we were able to win our JIVE.”
Sophomore Winter Osterhout led with 82 passing attempts, while Stowers had 34, Troxel 26, Koski 20, Cooper 15, Gilbert and Overson 14 apiece, Perry 12, Veikoso 11, Contreras five and Powers four.
Powers recorded 70 assists, Veikoso 62, Osterhout two, Cooper, Koski and Perry one each.
Gilbert led with 35 kills, while Koski had 29, Troxel 20, Veikoso 15, Perry 15, Stowers 15, Cooper eight, Powers two and Osterhout one.
Gilbert had 27 attack points, Koski 21, Veikoso 11, Troxel and Stowers eight apiece, Powers and Cooper two apiece.
Gilbert had 66 kill attempts, Koski 58, Troxel 56, Perry 32, Stowers 31, Veikoso 25, Cooper 20, Contreras six, Osterhout and Powers four apiece and Overson two.
Troxel had 24 hits still in play, Gilbert 23, Koski 21, Perry nine, Veikoso and Cooper six apiece, Contreras three, and Osterhout and Powers two apiece.
Osterhout led with 27 digs, Troxel 15, Veikoso nine, Powers and Stowers seven apiece, Cooper six, Koski four, Gilbert three and Perry and Overson one apiece.
Gilbert had 15 blocks, Perry three, Veikoso two, and Troxel, Powers and Stowers one each.
“The weekend that we spent up in Anchorage was a great learning tool for the varsity,” Ibias said. “Although we didn't do as well as we hoped, it did let us see where we stood and that we still had a lot to work on. Julie Weber, one of the lead officials for ASAA, was down for the annual referee clinic and commented that we looked like a different team than last weekend. I would have to agree with her comment. It felt like things were finally clicking. We have another tournament up in Anchorage in a few weeks and I am looking forward to seeing if the momentum will carry on.”
The JIVE awarded All-Tournament selections to JDHS senior varsity player Lilaine Veikoso, JDHS JV junior Brynlie Tingey, Sitka sophomore Addie Marx, Ketchikan senior Mariah Colbert, Cordova senior Victoria Nothside, Haines sophomore Brylee Swaner, Skagway junior Millie Meyers and Metlakatla senior Baileigh Nelson.
“This weekend was my first time participating in JIVE,” Tingey said. “And it has been such a fun experience. Lots of fun and exciting volleyball was played, and each team was fun to play against. I was surprised to hear I was an All-Tourney player for my team, but I also think that any person on my team deserves the award just as much. I am very grateful for my team and how they have supported me and became great teammates and friends — which is why I am happy to play volleyball with them for this season.”
The JDHS JV defeated Kayhi in a gold tournament bracket quarterfinal and lost to their varsity counterparts in the semifinals. Cordova defeated Sitka in the other semifinal. That set up the Crimson Bears’ win over the Wolverines for the JIVE title.
“The varsity and the JV were both started in separate pools,” Ibias said. “The JV had a tough bracket with Cordova, Skagway and Sitka, and took fourth in that pool. After reorganizing the pools from the round one seeding, varsity was again the first seed and the JV took the third seed in their pool by beating Metlakatla to get them in the gold bracket. In bracket play, varsity got a bye and JV beat Kayhi varsity to go to the semifinal where they met the JD varsity. This was a fun twist to things. Kylie, my daughter, is one of the coaches of the JD JV, and I have never had our teams meet in any of the sports that we have coached. So there was a little family competition there. Fortunately, varsity won and I didn't have to hear it about who the better coach was.”
The silver bracket tournament featured Skagway defeating Haines in a play-in game and Metlakatla defeating Skagway for the bracket title.
Teams were placed into the gold or silver brackets via two days of pool play.
Scores sent to the Juneau Independent show round-robin play with JDHS topping Pool A with a 6-0 record, Kayhi went 4-2, Metlakatla 2-4 and Haines 0-6. In Pool B, Sitka was 5-1, Cordova 3-3, JDHS JV 3-3 and Skagway 2-4.
Scores: JDHS vs MET 25-9, 25-9; COR vs SIT 26-24, 18-25; JDHS vs KTN 27-25, 25-16; JDHS JV vs COR 22-25, 16-25; KTN vs MET 25-16, 25-18; SIT vs JDHS JV 25-17, 25-16; KTN vs HNS 25-18, 25-8; JDHS JV vs SKG 25-22, 25-19; JDHS vs HNS 25-15, 25-12; SKG vs COR 25-19, 25-22; MET vs HNS 25-14, 25-14; SIT vs SKG 25-15, 25-13; MET vs HNS 25-7, 26-24; JDHS vs SIT 25-12, 25-21; COR vs KTN 25-17, 25-21; COR vs SIT 26-24, 23-25; JDHS JV vs SKG 25-20, 17-25; JDHS vs KTN 25-17, 25-16; JDHS vs COR 21-25, 25-22; JDHS JV vs HNS 25-15, 25-14; MET vs SKG 25-23, 20-25; JDHS JV vs MET 19-25, 25-15; SIT vs KTN 25-8, 25-13; HNS vs SKG 25-18, 25-13.
The JIVE began in 1992 as a Southeast gathering, but teams outside the Panhandle have attended over the years.
Available records starting in 1997 show JDHS has been in the title match in most years except 2007, ’08, ’14, ’17, ’22, ’23, ’25, winning numerous times, including a three-peat from 2004-06. Palmer defeated Colony in 2007, JDHS won in 2009, Palmer won in 2011, JDHS in 2012-13, Mt. Edgecumbe won in 2014, Ketchikan in 2015, but a new kid on the block, Thunder Mountain, started a four-year sweep of the title from 2016 -19.
Ibias was coach of the Falcons in 2016 when they won the first title.
In 2020-21, the JIVE was not held. Chugiak defeated TMHS in ’22 and ’23, Sitka won in 2024 and Barrow defeated West Anchorage last year.
“I want to throw out a quick thank you to the side-out booster club for all of the work that went into making the tournament happen,” Ibias said. “This program would not be where it is without their support. They fed all the teams, coaches, officials and volunteers…There were a lot of behind-the-scenes jobs that we were short on volunteers for, but the booster club came through. We want this tournament to be a tournament that teams are excited to come to. We would love to have the schools from up north coming down for the tournament. For that to happen we need to make sure the tournament goes off without a hitch and I think we pulled it off.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
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