Boom babies rattle JIVE

“Boom-chick-a-reload!”

“Ahhhhhh boom baby!”

Those were just two of the most common chants flowing through the Juneau-Douglas High School gymnasium this weekend during the Juneau Invitational Volleyball Extravaganza.

The cheers usually follow a thunderous smacking of a 10-ounce volleyball inflated with 4-6 pounds of air pressure that sends it traveling at 30-45 miles per hour.

“It feels really good because you are getting a point for your team,” Ketchikan senior Gabby Clark said. “It makes you feel really confidant about yourself.”

Clark and classmate Kaia Michalsen and juniors Kinani Halvorsen and Havalah Clark are the Lady Kings’ “go-to girls.”

The Lady Kings won the JIVE on Saturday night with a 25-20, 25-23 back-and-forth battle at the net against Juneau-Douglas.

Unofficially, Clark registered 5 kills in the two games and H. Clark and Michalsen 9 apiece.

Juneau-Douglas senior Kallen Hoover and sophomore Leah Spargo have range on the court to make a save and get the pass to a setter, and then reach the net for the set. They had 5 kills apiece.

Setters are key for their hitters. The set has to be right on so the timing of teammates’ jumps will result in the best, most efficient arm swing. Poor sets result in lower velocities because players have to adjust in midair.

“It feels pretty great to kill a shot,” Thunder Mountain middle blocker Maya Haywood said.

Haywood and middle blocker Maxie Saceda-Hurt often find themselves facing two defensive blockers.

“I try to tip where the extra blocker came from,” Haywood said. “Sometimes they have three, it is like ‘oh gosh,’ then you just try to power through. I got through Ketchikan’s yesterday. They had three blockers on me.”

Saceda-Hurt is smaller than most middle hitters, but she has hops. Jump height is key. It’s simple physics — the higher one jumps, the harder they can spike without worrying about the ball going out of bounds.

The Petersburg Vikings feature kill artist seniors Catherine Cardenas, Adanna Kvernvik, Kyla Willis, Kelly Engell, Kaitlin Willis and sophomore Courtney Fredricksen.

“It feels amazing when you kill a shot,” Fredricksen said. “It is like a big accomplishment. When someone else kills it, that is amazing. When you kill it, even more so. When multiple blockers are on you it is nerve-wracking — you have to see where the block is so you can … play safe.”

Sitka juniors Zoe Krupa and Alex Kirby and sophomore Tatum Bayne will lay some deceptive shots down.

“We just call ourselves outside hitters,” Sitka junior Zoe Krupa said. “We will say ‘Ah boom, take that!’ The hard thing is trying to get over the blocks, which is pretty tough. If you get blocked, it is hard to react to that. Otherwise, once we get up we set up and try it again. It feels pretty great when you make that hit.”

JDHS senior Maddie McKeown has has all the qualities of a deadly spiker — hops, height, accuracy and strength. She registered 10 kills in the championship.

“It is one thing to hit it hard,” JDHS coach Lesslie Knight said. “It is something different to do it with accuracy or with multiple blockers at the net. Maddie has had three blockers against Ketchikan, and sometimes Thunder (Mountain), so she gets tips over them.”

The JIVE spikers also featured Wrangell seniors Teresa Flores and Katie Barger, junior Makena Hammer and freshman Helen Decker leading the Lady Wolves; Craig’s Aspen Hansen and Danielle Reeves powering the Lady Panthers; and Haines’ senior Ice Wangyot challenging the net for the Glacier Bears.

The JIVE All-Tournament Team selections were Haines junior Jordan Stigen; Wrangell senior Teresa Flores; Craig junior Nicole Mackie; Sitka junior Zoe Krupa; Petersburg sophomore Courtney Fredricksen; Thunder Mountain sophomore Maxie Saceda-Hurt and senior Maya Haywood; JDHS seniors Martina Worden and Maddie Mckeown; and Ketchikan seniors Kaia Michalsen and Jenny Hu and junior Kreylynn Johnson.