With a regional title and a trip to the state tournament on the line, the top teams from Alaska’s Region III came to Homer last weekend to compete in the 3A level. The Mariners battled with their top rivals, Kenai and Nikiski, in the three-day tournament.
Homer, Nikiski and Kenai each went into the tournament with an 8-2 conference record. Each team’s two losses were to their two rivals. Nikiski and Kenai also had beaten each other once as well.
At this weekend’s tournament, Kenai came out on top, defeating Homer 30-22 in the final “If” game of the tournament. The teams had defeated each other once in the double elimination tournament, so one of them had to beat the other in a final single game.
The Mariners ended in second place. Homer will next play Valdez in Anchorage at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday in the first round of the state championship.
Homer won a well-fought 3-0 game against the Houston Hawks in the first round of the tournament. They kept the Hawks to only eight points in the first set and three in the second. The Hawks caught up in the third set, but fell short 25-19.
Homer went on to play the Grace Christian Grizzlies after their 3-1 victory over Seward. The Mariners defeated the Grizzlies 3-0 in sets of 25-15, 25-8 and 25-23. This put them in the semifinal round against Kenai.
Kenai started the tournament with a 3-0 win against the Mountain City Christian Academy Lions and won the next round 3-1 against the Nikiski Bulldogs, who finished third in the tournament.
Kenai and Homer battled in a close matchup, but Kenai came out on top 3-1. The Kardinals won the first two sets, 25-22 and 25-21. Homer fought back in the third set, winning 25-22. This brought the game to a fourth set, where the Mariners lost some momentum and got beat, 25-18.
The Mariner loss to Kenai in the semifinals put them into the losers bracket where they played Nikiski in the losers semifinal round to the championship.
Nikiski had beaten the Redington Huskies 3-0 in the first round, but fell short to Kenai in the second, knocking them down to the losers bracket. They beat the Seward Seahawks 3-0, pushing their way to the semifinals against Homer.
Both teams had been defeated, and with the chance to go to the championship game, Homer scraped by 3-0 in each set, scoring 26-24, 25-23 and 25-18.
Homer was now in the championship game with their second time playing Kenai this tournament.
Kenai started off strong with a 25-23 win in the first set. The Mariners played even harder in the second set, just getting past with a 26-24 victory. They kept this momentum going into the third set, and won 25-23. The Mariners needed one more to win, and they did 25-22.
Since both the Mariners and the Kardinals had only lost once in the tournament, they faced off one last time in an extra “if” game. The first to 30 points takes all. Kenai came out on top 30-22.
“High school volleyball is strong on the peninsula and the parents and players of different teams forge relationships built in the bleachers over many years,” said Mariner parent Keriann Baker. “I always want the Lady Mariners to win but, like many other volleyball parents, have a soft spot for the other peninsula volleyball teams. There is a mutual respect between athletes that compete at this level. I may be biased but I believe there is no better volleyball than peninsula volleyball.”
Homer seniors Reilly Sue Baker, Swift Blackstock and Alysha Nyvall won second, fifth and seventh in the 1st Team All-Southcentral Conference play. Blackstock won the team’s sportsmanship award for her attitude throughout the entire season.
“Our volleyball team has worked hard for the last four years to get to where we are,” said senior Maddy Miotke. “We are excited to make it to state and give it all we got. No matter what happens, being on this team and making it to state is already a huge accomplishment.”
If Homer can defeat Valdez in the first bracket of the state championships on Thursday afternoon at the Alaska Airlines Center, they will go on to play the winner of the Monroe Catholic vs. Sitka game at 7 p.m. that day.
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