Crimson Bears face northern test on Utqiagvik courts

In Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow, the Barrow High School Whalers volleyball team is used to living and playing in the largest city of the North Slope Borough, a treeless tundra and one of the northernmost towns in the world.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears are used to southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the largest national forest at 16.7 million acres and known for its temperate, Xtratuf-enabling climate.

“There was a minus 12 windchill,” JDHS head coach Jody Levernier said of the temperatures outside the Barrow High School gym during the Volleyball Whaler Invite. “We spent a lot of time indoors.”

The team was treated to a bus tour of the community.

“Other than the tournament, we got to go on this tour of Barrow,” sophomore setter Brie Powers said. “We got to drive all around it. I think that was pretty fun to see. Just stepping off the plane and seeing nothing. There were no trees there, it’s like nothing. They had like one paved road there, all the roads are dirt because of permafrost.”

The tour took them to the Whalebone Arch, where whalers would return to near the waterfront when hunts were finished, and featured stops along the beaches.

“Probably my highlight was going on the tour and seeing all the views,” sophomore libero June Troxel said. “But it was hard to explore and have fun out there when it was so cold. Like, I lasted for five minutes and I ran back inside the bus.”

Troxel said one thing that stood out on the tour was “a dead walrus, because it was so random. It was just laying on the beach there. But also when we came off the plane it was just like flat; there is nothing. Like you look out and there is nothing. I thought that was really cool.”

They were treated to a firsthand look at the economy in a remote city with a visit to the grocery store.

“They were shocked at the prices of food,” Levernier said. “But it was so cold we stayed inside most of the time. One of the cool things was just hanging out with the teams there. Just watching them make connections. And the community that Barrow has, when the school was open there were all these kids running around and a couple of the little kids would not leave Lavi (junior outside hitter Lavinia Ma’ake) alone. They just wanted to be with Lavi the whole time, it was so cute.”

And they got to touch the Arctic Ocean, well, those that could weather the climate.

“I touched it,” junior outside hitter Braith Dihle said. “It was cold, though…My highlight was the community in Barrow. It was really fun when we were at the actual tournament. All the families brought food that they shared, and everyone was super hospitable and really nice. And it was their senior night, and it was super cool to see the whole town come in the gym and support all the girls. It is a really sweet community…They had a great turnout and the bleachers were super interactive with them and it was really fun to watch.”

JDHS placed third in the Whalers Invite volleyball tournament.

Round-robin action on Thursday and Friday morning was played one set to 25.

On Thursday, JDHS lost to Mountain City Christian Academy 25-22, beat Barrow JV 25-11 and fell to Barrow varsity 25-16. On Friday, JDHS fell to Seward 25-22 and defeated Nome 25-20.

Friday evening started bracket play in a best-of-three set format. JDHS was seeded fourth. The Crimson Bears beat Barrow JV 25-10, 24-26, 15-10, and then toppled MCCA 25-17, 25-17 with solid passing and total match effort across the court.

On Saturday, JDHS fell to eventual tournament runner-up Barrow varsity 25-13, 25-13 and fell to eventual tournament champion Seward 25-16, 25-16.

Ma’ake and Troxel were selected to the all-tournament team.

All the players agreed the volleyball was fun, the gym and school were really nice, the teams were right in their ballpark so it was a really good tournament to have right before regions because it gave them a little extra preparedness for this weekend when they host Ketchikan for the Region V Championship.

“It was a fun experience,” coach Levernier said. “I wish we would have won a couple more games, but I feel like we made some connections as a team and had some good team talks. On the court, we had some great games, but our consistency is still not there. But I think that as a group of players off the court I think we made some progress just being together, and talking about what it means to be a team and those relationships…I think they got along so well at the beginning of the year that I was a little surprised about. It’s not like they are fighting on the court, it is just trusting each other and having confidence in each other. Really, they have only been playing together since August as a team. Before that they were two different schools. The trip was about going somewhere different and experiencing something different and playing volleyball. And, of course, we would have liked to have won more games, but there is a lot that happens when you’re spending four days with each other all day long.”

Prior to the Barrow tournament, the team had a stopover in Anchorage on Thursday and traveled to Palmer for a match against Colony, falling 25-12, 25-15, 25-21.

The anticipation of a minus 12 temperature with windchill in their next stop may have played a role, but Colony is a formidable foe from a power conference.

Perhaps there was one disappointment across the Crimson Bears roster.

“We didn’t get to see a polar bear,” Levernier said. “So that was sad.”

JDHS will play Kayhi in a best-of-three series beginning Friday for the Southeast crown. Action begins with a serving and passing competition at 4 p.m. and game one at 6 p.m.

Game two is Saturday at 2 p.m. If both teams have one match loss an if-necessary game will follow at 6 p.m. The winner of the series earns the Southeast berth to the state championships Nov. 14-16 at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.