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Sitka spikes Mt. Edgecumbe for volleyball title
Lady Wolves sweep Lady Braves in three tough sets for Region V crown
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
This story will be updated with additional photos Sunday.
The Sitka Lady Wolves volleyball team defeated their John O’Connell Bridge neighbors Mt. Edgecumbe 3-0 (25-11, 25-23, 25-23) on Friday to sweep the 2026 Alaska Airlines Region V Volleyball 3A Championship in two matches at Juneau’s George Houston Gymnasium. The Lady Wolves had defeated the Lady Braves 3-2 (27-25, 25-21, 19-25, 21-25, 16-14) on Thursday to open the tournament.
“This feels so good,” Sitka junior Kailee Brady said. “It is one of the best feelings I have ever had to win a region game. Especially against a team that is good and that we fight back against. So it just feels incredible.”
The two match wins give Sitka the Southeast automatic bid to the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska 3A/4A Volleyball State Championships, Thursday through Saturday at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center.
Mt. Edgecumbe was not going down easy and took commanding leads in the second and third sets, but Sitka battled back to earn two-point wins in both.
“I think our ability to be resilient and have grit and fight back is key,” Brady said. Even when we are down we know that the game is not over until someone hits and wins by two. Now this means that we are state-bound, and we are going to state, and we are playing really good teams, and we have a good chance.”
The last set was even more resilient, as MEHS has gone up 11-1 on two aces from senior Marlee Chris and two kills and a tip shot by senior Gracelynn Friske. Sitka battled back, slowly working to 12-3, 14-4, 15-6, 17-9 and 18-12. The Lady Wolves then went on a 7-0 run with sophomore Addie Marx serving to take a 19-18 lead. The run included kills by freshman Piper Vaughn and Brady and a Marx ace.
“It is super exciting,” Sitka head coach Zadie Allen said. “They showed a lot of resilience coming back in that game. I am just excited that these guys get to go have the experience at State. You know, from the beginning of the season, they had a knack for coming back in games. Not that it always happened obviously, but like there has been a lot of games that it looked like we were done and we were not done. We also practiced this like all week and today, so we have literally been practicing being behind and coming back and so the mentality has kind of just been there and that's what we have been working on.”
Allen said Sitka volleyball, “is about love. That is what we say after every huddle. After every time we talk we all say ‘love.’ I think they all just love each other, and they love volleyball, and they love it all and they are resilient with their play.”
Unofficial stats have Marx with eight kills, a block, two scoring tip shots and an ace. Brady had nine kills, a block, two tip shots and a highlight pass that fed Marx for a shot. Senior Bristol Clifton had six kills, two blocks and two aces.
“It is great, now we get to go to state,” Clifton said. “I mean, going into this tournament, we knew we were not going to get the at-large bid. So it is now or never. We have to beat Edgecombe. That is our only ticket to state. It is always sad to send them home, obviously. I mean I wish I could play with them, but I mean it is good that we get to go to state and they are always tough competition, so it was always a really good game. We are always really close. We play them all the time, so I feel like we just know what they do and we know what we need to do. We know that they were trying to make us go out of system, which I mean I feel they did a pretty good job. But I feel we did a good job still hitting it, getting hits and getting it over, and getting good passes out of their tricky stuff that they put over on us.”
Sitka’s Vaughn had five kills and a block. Senior Joey Agullana had three aces and sophomores Lily Scrantz and Maleah Partido two apiece. Freshmen Eva Miller and Rosie Starbuck had a kill and a block apiece.
Agullana said. “It feels sad, but I am really happy that we won. It just feels unreal, especially for my senior year. We have a very young team, so I feel like we just work really well together, because some of us have never played on a court before together, and it just feels amazing.”
Agullana said she hopes the young players, “look up to us as an example and just take it in for next year. I hope they really do well next year, and I bet they will.”
Scrantz noted how the last set felt.
“It was just get the serve over and in and to not be nervous about it because it is my first regional game as a sophomore,” Scrantz said. “And just to focus on right now and not later. When match point went down I was super happy, and sad, because we have been waiting to win regions. I just try to put the ball in a specific spot when serving, like if my coach is telling me a spot to put it, or else I just put it over and in.”
Unofficial stats have Mt. Edgecumbe’s Friske with eight kills and two tip scores.
“This region was all about teamwork,” Friske said. “And just about the last time to play with each other and to give it all we got.”
MEHS senior Charity Mila had eight points scored on service, an ace and a tip score, and two blocks.
“The Region V tournament meant a bunch of friendship, teamwork and just helping each other when times got rough,” Mila said.
MEHS’ Chris had five points scored on her service, had two aces, a kill and a block.
“This Region V tournament meant a lot of teamwork,” Chris said. “A lot of sportsmanship, and being there for one another and picking each other up and playing to the best of our ability.”
MEHS sophomore Zoya Tuzroyluk had eight points scored on service and two aces; junior Devyn Sampson earned two blocks; sophomore Kiauna O’Brien had two kills, two tip scores and a block; and senior Zereah Henry had three kills, two blocks, a tip score and an ace.
“This Region V tournament meant sportsmanship,” Henry said. “It meant love for the sport and teamwork, and that is what volleyball is about.”
REGION V TOURNAMENT AWARDS
Team Sportsmanship: Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves.
3A All Conference: Sitka - sophomore Addie Marx, senior Bristol Clifton, junior Kailee Brady. Mt. Edgecumbe - sr Charity Mila, sr Gracelynn Friske, sr Zereah Henry.
4A All Conference: JDHS - sr Haley Gilbert, sr Liliane Veikoso, sr June Troxel, sr Brie Powers; Ketchikan - sr Winter Loretan, sr Mariah Colbert.
Good Sport Team: Mt. Edgecumbe - sr Gracelynn Friske, sr Charity Mila; Sitka - fr Piper Vaughn, so Lily Scrantz; JDHS - sr Faith Contreras, so Winter Osterhout; Ketchikan - sr Alexis Kolean, so Kendall Elliott.
All Academic Team (seniors): Mt. Edgecumbe - Charity Mila, Gracelynn Friske, Marlee Chris; Sitka - Joey Agullana, Bristol Clifton; JDHS - Faith Contreras, Leila Cooper, Haley Gilbert, June Troxel, Analia Perry, Brie Powers; Ketchikan - Mariah Colbert.
Mt. Edgecumbe’s season roster included Friske (sr, Sitka), Emry Ward (so, Aniak), Devyn Sampson (jr, Wasilla), Kiauna O’Biren (jr, Bethel), Kasia Barnes (jr, Koliganek), Iris Tokeinna (jr, Wales), Zoya Tuzroyluk (so, Point Hope), Bessie Hanson (jr, New Stuyahok), Zereah Henry, sr, Point Lay), Evangeline Hank (so, Point Hope), Charity Mila (sr, Barrow) and Marlee Chris (sr, Big Lake). Coaches are Margo Livermore and Becky Friske.
Sitka’s season roster included Maleah Partido (so), Piper Vaughn (fr), Bristol Clifton (sr), Eva Miller (fr), Lily Scrantz (so), Joey Agullana (sr), Addie Marx (so), Averie Having (fr), Rosie Starbuck (fr), Hannah Martin (fr) and Kailee Brady (jr). Coaches are Zaide Allen and Kristi Brady.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at sports@juneauindependent.com
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