Hoonah opens Region V-Class 2A volleyball title defense with sweep
SKAGWAY - The Hoonah girls swept Kake in three straight games to open up the Region V-Class 2A volleyball tourney here on Monday.
In Monday's other first-round match, Klawock overcame a thrilling opening-game loss to Skagway, to win the next three straight games and advance to play Hoonah later on Monday (results were not available at press time).
Monday night's winner between Hoonah and Klawock advanced to today's championship round, while the loser faced the winner of a consolation match between Skagway and Kake for another shot at the championship in the double-elimination format.
The top two teams advance to the Class 1A-2A-3A (West) state tournament Dec. 4-6 at Anchorage's Dimond High School. Hoonah finished second in the last two state tournaments and won the 1998 state title.
The Braves are the tourney favorite, despite being seeded second. The team forfeited games on Prince of Wales Island recently in order to play tougher Region V-Class 3A/4A competition in Sitka, Hoonah coach Julie Jackson said. So Klawock was seeded first with the better record.
Jackson is preparing her team for state, where the Braves have been runners-up the past two years. This year's team might be her best.
"For the first time in my 16 years, we have four dominating hitters and two solid setters," Jackson said. "And this year I have blockers."
They also nail their serves.
The Braves defeated Kake 25-10, 25-7, and 25-15. In the first two games, Candy Keown, Kristi Skaflestad and Cassandra Peters matched aces with winning hits. In the final game, tall Andria Skaflestad was the star, nailing four straight hits to break open a 16-12 game.
In the other first round match, Skagway was down 24-18 before the Panthers' Savannah Ames served her team to eight straight points to win the game 26-24 before a loud home crowd that included the entire Skagway school enrollment.
The second game was just as tight until Klawock's Kayleigh Ryno blocked three Skagway hits and lifted her team to a 25-16 victory.
The Chieftains followed that up with a 25-13 victory behind a pair of aces by Sharon Webb. Ryno started off the fourth game serving for six straight points, and Skagway looked out of sync despite getting some strong blocks from Audrey Neitzer. Klawock prevailed 25-13 to take the match.