JDHS’ Saturday spikers sweep Mt. Edgecumbe
- Klas Stolpe
- Sep 13
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 15
Crimson Bears win weekend series over Lady Braves
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
The shot was expected.
The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears volleyball team had been blasting big spikes through the visiting Mt. Edgeumbe Lady Braves on Saturday, and the George Houston Gymnasium fans expected the final point to be put down by the night’s senior scoring leaders Braith Dihle, Gwen Nizich and Lavinia Ma’ake or junior June Troxel.
Instead, those four and their teammates exploded in jubilation as sophomore outside hitter Ruby Koski spiked a shot near the right post and sent it over the net and across the court to stop an MEHS rally and clinch the JDHS three-set sweep 25-22.
“It was just really exciting to be on the court and to just get to play with everyone,” Koski said. “Just being a team. It made me very happy. I swung up from JV this year so it is really exciting to get time to play on the court. I hope it impressed someone.”
Koski’s shot seemed to impress her teammates as they gathered around her to celebrate — and the crowd as the noise reverberated from corner to corner.
JDHS had opened the third set with a 7-0 service run by junior setter Liliane Veikoso which included her two aces, and two kills from Dihle, another from Nizich, and a scoring block from senior outside hitter Natalia Harris, who had an assortment of blocked shots when she subbed into the three-set rotation.
“It is very fun,” Harris said. “Especially having your team behind you to support you and cheer you and keep you going. It makes you want to get up there and block even more and just keep on covering and make sure you get up there. Because if you slow down the block you get to run plays and then everyone gets to do their favorite thing, which is hit the ball. And we all work together and it is a good time…I think it is great. We all support each other and we are all just here. We all want to have fun and just cheer, no matter what, and we just want everyone to do there best in the best way, whether that is coming off the bench or starting on the court it is just to play volleyball and having a good time.”
Mt. Edgecumbe clawed back into the game with service runs by junior Charity Mila (from Barrow), senior Tahira Akaran (from Kotlik) and Zereah Henry (from Point Lay), pulling to within 9-7 until JDHS’ Harris blocked a shot and Ma’ake killed another.
The Lady Braves again pulled within two at 13-11 until Nizich and Dihle killed shots for a 15-11 lead.
The two sides would exchange scoring runs until MEHS senior Karen Christopher (from New Stuyahok) served from trailing 19-16 to a 21-19 lead.
A miss-hit gave JDHS possession, and Ma’aka served an ace, and Dihle killed a shot for a 22-21 lead. A service error tied the game at 22, but MEHS had a net violation to give JDHS a 23-22 advantage and possession.
Troxel put a jump serve across that backed up MEHS and their return was set up for a Dihle kill for a 24-22 lead. Troxel did the same on the match serve, backing up the receivers, and their return was handled by Koski for the match winner.
“Practice, I guess,” Troxel said. “Doing it over and over throughout the three years I have been playing with the JDHS team. Just practice and consistency.”
Troxel, an outside hitter, is one of the smallest players on the court, but has one of the most dynamic vertical leaps and is fearless on attacking shots. She also took on the role of a middle blocker when senior Neela Thomas was injured.
“It was crazy going to middle after one of our teammates became injured,” she said. “So I am taking that spot for her. But really in the beginning when we went to Sitka for our first tournament, I was not hitting like that at all. It was going out or going into the net and it really just took practice. We practiced it a lot. Also just timing with my setters Brie (junior Brie Powers) and O (Veikoso) and backup setter Cambry (senior starting libero Lockhart). Yeah, honestly just practice. Making sure the ball is in front of me and swinging all the way through.”
The Crimson Bears had opened the night with a 25-12 first-set win.
JDHS’ Veikoso had two aces to start the game and MEHS’ Mila took a miss-hit for three serves, and the Lady Braves’ only lead at 4-2.
Dihle and Lockhart had service runs that pushed JDHS to a 10-5 lead, including kills by Nizich, Ma’aka and Troxel. Ma’ake, Troxel and Veikoso would serve to an 18-9 advantage, including an ace by each. Dihle served to a 22-10 lead and Lockhart served to a 24-11 lead until MEHS’ Henry killed for possession and junior Gracelynn Friske killed to trail 24-13.
JDHS’ Ma’ake put down the set winner with a blast through the middle.
The night’s second set saw JDHS win 25-19. The match was tied five times before Dihle killed a shot for possession at 8-8 and Ma’ake served to 13-8, including two aces, a block and a kill by Troxel, and a kill by sophomore outside hitter Nellie Stowers.
After service possessions Troxel jumped two serves for a 16-9 lead.
The two sides scored on possession changes until Ma’ake killed for a 20-12 lead that seemed to hold the momentum.
Instead MEHS’ Mila killed for the ball and Christopher served to within 20-17, including a kill by Friske and freshman Kiauna O’Brien (from Bethel).
The momentum was swung to the Crimson Bears as Dihle put down one of her eight kills of the night for a 21-17 lead, and Powers served to 24-17.
MEHS’ Friske killed for ball possession and served an ace to pull to 24-19, but Dihle timed a set from Powers and blasted the set winner.
“I felt good about yesterday and so I was really excited today,” Dihle said. “I really like playing home games. So I was just excited to be here and I am working on attacking all types of balls, not just perfect sets. Just being able to get my hands on everything.”
Dihle was hitting from a variety of angles near the net and three steps away as well, reading the opponents’ blocking defense.
“Usually I can tell if the line is open,” she said. “If line is open there is going to be a gap between the antenna and the blockers’ hands, and that is my go-to. But if I see there is only one blocker up, then I try to hit hard angle, which is like you flip your thumb down. So I really try to think about where the blockers are. Usually I can kind of tell where they are, it just kind of depends on how fast my mind is moving in the moment.”
On Saturday, Veikoso scored 11 points on serve (4 aces), Dihle eight (2 aces), Ma’ake eight (3 aces), Troxel seven (3 aces), Lockhart five (1 ace) and Powers five (1 ace). Ma’ake had 13 pass attempts, Lockhart 12, Dihle 10, Troxel nine, Veikosa two and Koski one.
Ma’ake had nine kills, Nizich seven, Dihle and Troxel five apiece, Harris three, Stowers and Koski two apiece, and Powers one.
Troxel had 22 digs, Dihle 17, Ma’ake 12, Lockhart eight, Veikoso four, Powers three and Nizich two. Veikoso had 20 assists and Powers 12. Troxel and Nizich had two blocks apiece.
JDHS won Friday 25-27, 25-11, 25-18, 25-12.
On Friday, Lockhart scored 18 points on serve (4 aces), Veikoso 13 (4 aces), Dihle 12 (1 ace), Ma’ake nine (1 ace), Troxel six (1 ace), Powers five and junior Leila Cooper two.
Nizich had 13 kills, Ma’ake 11, Dihle 10, Troxel six, Veikoso three, Stowers and Koski one apiece. Nizich had five blocks, Troxel and Ma’ake two apiece, Koski and Veikoso one apiece.
Veikoso had 25 assists and Powers 12. Dihle had 21 digs, Ma’ake 18, Lockhart 15, Troxel 14, Veikoso five, Koski three, Nizich two, Cooper and Harris one apiece.
“They are pretty good about supporting each other no matter who it is,” JDHS coach Jody Levernier said. “I am happy that this time we came out strong and won the first couple of sets. We always seem to struggle in one of the sets so far this season. I am glad that we won it in three. I am glad we started off strong. We did have a little bit of hesitation tonight. There should not be balls dropping on the floor…but this was nice to get two match wins against traditional power Mt. Edgecumbe.”
JDHS attends the Sitka Slam Invitational next weekend.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@gmail.com.
