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Sitka gives Juneau first loss of the young season
- Klas Stolpe
- 1 hour ago
- 8 min read
Wolves take Crimson Bears to five sets, split weekend series
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
One night after falling in three straight sets to the Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé volleyball team, the Sitka Wolves toppled the Crimson Bears in a five-set match Saturday, winning 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-14, 21-25, 15-12).
“It was a great learning experience, they are a good team,” JDHS head coach Arnold Ibias said. “They are a young team, but they are good team. They have some good hitters, good blockers and they are smart. They are super smart. They saw our holes. It is stuff that we have to fix.”
Sitka coach Zaide Allen said, “It was really exciting. We played so well. I think this team didn’t feel the pressure at all. They are very resilient, and I think that they just work hard. I think they are just competitive, work hard and want to win.”
Game one was tight through the first six service possessions and Sitka held a 7-5 lead when JDHS forced a mishit. Senior June Troxel then served to a 13-7 lead that included two aces and a kill apiece from seniors Macy Summers and Analia Perry.
Sitka freshman Piper Vaughn tipped a score to regain service, and sophomore Maleah Partido served to within 13-12 with a kill and a tip by junior Kailee Brady.
The two sides exchanged points, tying the score four times to reach 18-18. JDHS took a 21-18 lead behind Troxel at the service line, which included a kill by junior Ruby Koski. Sitka took the lead 22-21, with sophomore Addie Marx at the line and with a Marx tip, a Vaughn block, a Brady kill and a tip by freshman Eva Miller.
A mishit by Sitka tied the score and Summers served, forcing a weak return that senior Hale Gilbert killed for a 23-22 lead. A service error tied the game at 23-23, and Sitka’s Vaughn closed the game with two aces for the 25-21 win.
Game two was the same action as neither side held more than a four-point advantage. JDHS tied the game for the 12th time with senior Bri Powers serving an ace for 21-21. Sitka’s Brady killed a shot for a 22-21 lead, but a Sitka mishit gave JDHS serve and tied the game 22-22. Crimson Bears senior Clairee Overson served out the game, forcing a mishit for 23-22, followed by a kill apiece from senior Liliane Veikoso and Gilbert for the 25-22 win.
“The game is a lot of streaks,” Ibias said. “If you can find that one person on the other side that you can pick on you can get a nice run and break the backbone of the other team. Tonight we were just a little bit slow, but the energy was there. We were just a half a step off, but we will get it. We had some great defensive play and our libero played really well all weekend.”
JDHS sophomore libero Winter Osterhout was playing her first varsity matches.
She said it was a bit scary: “Especially playing libero with varsity. I just try to, like, I don’t know, take an advantage and try and get the first ball. I feel like I am always a little nervous because they have got some really good hitters and they can hit straight down. A lot of their hitters can hit in different spots than a lot of our hitters do, so it is trying to figure out how to read and adjust to it that is hard.”
Sitka’s win in game three was the largest. The Wolves held small advantages at 2-1, 7-4, 10-6 and 14-8. JDHS closed the gap to 14-11 with Powers serving, but a Crimson Bears mishit gave service to Sitka. Wolves senior Jeeya Agullana served to a 22-11 lead that included an ace, a tip from senior Bristol Clifton and two kills by Brady.
A kill by JDHS’ Gilbert scored point 12, but a mishit allowed Sitka a point and Brady blocked for a 24-12 lead. JDHS scored on a mishit and a Veikoso spike to pull to 24-14, but a mishit gave Sitka the game 25-14.
“It feels really nice to start off the season with a win,” Sitka’s Brady said. “And I think it is nice to start off with a win so we can keep moving forward with what we are doing. I think — like I tell the freshmen about this court — I think it is a good environment. It is weird when I say it, but the sound kind of echoes and so it makes it louder and the energy is a lot higher when we are low. And when we are up, I think that, kind of this gym I feel echoes energy. So if you are down it is like the gym's down but if you are up and high, it is high.”
Game four had 12 ties. JDHS’ Troxel broke 16-16 with a kill for service and Gilbert served a ball that, when returned, was set up for a Summers’ tip and an 18-16 lead. A block by Sitka’s Vaughn closed to 18-17, but a Wolves’ service error gave the ball - and a point - to JDHS. The Crimson Bears’ Veikoso saved to 22-17, including an ace and a kill apiece from Koski and Summers.
Sitka freshman Eva Miller killed to pull to 22-18, but Overson tipped for JDHS point 23 and Troxel served point 24, a kill by Perry.
Two JDHS mishits and a Sitka block by Clifton brought the Wolves within 24-21, but a violation gave the game point to JDHS 25-21.
Sitka took a 2-0 lead in game five, but JDHS tied the game via a mishit and a Veikoso tip. Sitka took 4-2 and 6-3 leads before JDHS’ Veikoso killed a shot, Gilbert served a point and Troxel killed a point to tie the game 6-6.
Sitka led 8-6 via two JDHS errors, but the Crimson Bears scored on a Powers’ tip and a service ace by Veikoso to tie 8-8.
Sitka took a 9-8 lead on a kill by Vaughn, but Gilbert scored on a hard hit for 9-9. Two Sitka mishits and a Gilbert score gave the Crimson Bears a 12-9 advantage and an apparent edge to the fifth-game, final point of 15.
Sitka had one last surge and the Wolves’ Brady earned the team a service with a tip shot to pull to 12-10. The Wolves’ Vaughn hit an ace to pull to 12-11, Marx killed a shot to tie the game at 12-12, Brady blocked for a 13-12 lead.
After a JDHS timeout, Sitka’s Miller killed a shot for 14-12 and then during a rally of nice saves by both sides, Miller bumped up a ball near the net and it settled among JDHS defenders for the match winner.
“It means a lot because I have loved volleyball since, like, before the beginning of middle school,” Miller said. “And to come in as a freshman on varsity and to help my team win and to experience this and have like a head start for like the rest of my four years and for college, it definitely helps me and shows me a lot about teamwork.”
Miller remembered watching matches between JDHS and Sitka when she was at Blatchley Middle School.
“I would always think it was a good rivalry,” Miller said. “Because it was always a close game and I wanted to be out there so bad.”
Stats provided by JDHS included 15 points scored on serve by Troxel, eight apiece from Powers and Veikoso, seven from Gilbert, six from Summers, four from Overson and one from senior Faith Contreras. Veikoso had three aces, Troxel two, Powers and Summers one apiece.
“Our serving wasn't like it was yesterday,” coach Ibias said. “We were off. But we never gave up and fought to the very end. I mean, 13-15. You couldn't ask for more from a team that, you know, loses the first set, wins the second one, loses the third one, wins the fourth, and you never know what's gonna happen in the fifth. A lot of times what happens in that fifth, after you win that fourth one, you kind of let up a little bit, thinking, ‘Oh, I got it, I've got it.’ But they didn't, they just kept going to the end, so I'm proud of them for that.”
Osterhout had 28 pass attempts, Troxel 21, Summers eight, Overson seven, Veikoso six, Gilbert and Perry five apiece, Koski and Contreras four apiece, and Powers one.
Koski led with 12 kills, Gilbert 10, Veikoso nine, Troxel and Summers five apiece, Perry four, and Powers three. Koski had 13 hits in play, Veikoso nine, Troxel and Gilbert seven apiece, Perry six, Osterhout and Summers four apiece. Koski had 25 kill attempts, Veikoso 24, Gilbert 17, Troxel 13, Summers 12, Perry 11, Osterhout six, Powers two and Overson one.
Veikoso had 15 assists, Powers 14, Gilbert two, Troxel, Osterhout and Koski one each. Osterhout had 15 digs, Veikoso 9, Overson three, Troxel, Summers, Gilbert, Koski and Perry two each, and Contreras one.
“It is a young season,” Ibias said. “I didn't say a whole lot yesterday, but I mean it is just one match in a very long season. We have a ton of matches left and having this opportunity for Sitka to come in was a great thing for us. And having it at home and seeing what we were at, where we were, we had no idea. We scrimmage each other, we scrimmage the JVs, and we think we are doing okay. You just don't know unless you are actually in a match where you are really at it. And I think where we are at a good starting place, but we definitely have some things to work on. But that is the great thing about volleyball in Southeast is you only play on Friday and Saturday and then you have a long time to practice and fix things. So that is what we are going to do. We are going to come back Monday and spend some time conditioning and fixing the things that need to be fixed.”
Also on Saturday the JDHS JV fell to Sitka JV 2-1 (28-26, 22-25, 15-12).
The JDHS varsity won Friday 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-17) and the JV fell 2-1 (15-25, 28-26, 15-4).
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
