Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Evelyn Richards (8), sophomore Leila Cooper (7), senior Tatum Billings (3) and junior Cambry Lockhart (4) await a serve against Wasilla in a game earlier this season at the George Houston Gymnasium. The Crimson Bears season ended with two losses in the state tournament this weekend. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire file photo)

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Evelyn Richards (8), sophomore Leila Cooper (7), senior Tatum Billings (3) and junior Cambry Lockhart (4) await a serve against Wasilla in a game earlier this season at the George Houston Gymnasium. The Crimson Bears season ended with two losses in the state tournament this weekend. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire file photo)

Crimson Bears fall under Stars at state volleyball tournament

JDHS loses three straight sets to Soldotna in elimination match.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears could not shadow the bright lights of the Soldotna Stars on Friday morning in an elimination game at the ASAA 2024 Volleyball 4A State Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center, falling 3-0 for the second straight day in the tournament.

Soldotna opened the match with a dominance at the net and pushed out to an 8-1 advantage with junior Sarah Brown serving two aces and getting a kill from sophomore Cassidy Kruse.

JDHS junior Natalia Harris killed for possession and sophomore June Troxel served two aces to pull the Crimson Bears to within 8-4.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Kruse again killed for Sohi and senior Sadie Lane served three aces for a 12-4 lead.

JDHS would climb back into the set with three different service exchanges that included junior Cambry Lockhart, Harris and junior Lavinia Ma’ake to pull within 14-10.

A kill by Sohi senior Hallie Fischer and five straight Fischer serves that included three aces and a kill apiece from seniors Kiona Dexter and Sadie Lane put Sohi up 20-11.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Cambry Lockhart (4) and sophomore June Troxel (1) play a serve against Wasilla in a game earlier this season at the George Houston Gymnasium. The Crimson Bears season ended with two losses in the state tournament this weekend. Lockhart was selected an All-State Player of the Game. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire file photo)

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé junior Cambry Lockhart (4) and sophomore June Troxel (1) play a serve against Wasilla in a game earlier this season at the George Houston Gymnasium. The Crimson Bears season ended with two losses in the state tournament this weekend. Lockhart was selected an All-State Player of the Game. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire file photo)

JDHS gained possession via service error and junior Braith Dihle killed for a point before the Crimson Bears had their own service error to return possession.

Sohi’s Brown served to 24-13 including an ace and a scoring block by Kruse.

A miss hit gave JDHS possession, but Kruse killed for the set 25-14.

Sohi had an early lead in set two with a kill and a block by Kruse, but a service error gave JDHS possession and sophomore Leila Cooper served to 4-2 with an ace and two Stars miss hits.

After two point exchanges the Stars took an 8-6 advantage with senior Veronica Crane serving and getting a block and kill from junior Morgan Simac, a kill by senior Kathleen Curtis and a block by Fischer.

A miss hit gave JDHS possession and junior Cambry Lockhart served to a 9-8 lead.

Sohi’s Fischer killed for possession and Dexter served to an 11-9 Stars lead with an ace and a kill by Simac.

Single point exchanges drew JDHS to within 13-12 and junior Neela Thomas served an ace and another hard shot for a 14-13 lead before a service error tied the set at 13-13.

Sohi’s Brown served to an 18-14 lead with an ace and kills by Kruse and Curtis.

Single point kill exchanges by JDHS’ Ma’ake and Sohi’s Lane brought the ball back to the Stars, and senior Veronica Crane served to a 22-16 advantage with kills by Kruse and Fischer.

A Stars miss hit gave the Crimson Bears a point, but Sohi’s Simac killed for 23-17.

A Stars service error gave the Crimson Bears another point but JDHS did the same and trailed 24-18.

JDHS sophomore Amelia Effers and Ma’ake put a double block to work for point 19 and Effers killed for point 20, but Sohi’s Lane crushed the set winner for the 25-20 final.

Set three was dominated at the net as both teams tried to power through.

Sohi took an early 7-3 and 12-5 leads with three scoring kills by Fischer, two blocks by Simac and a couple aces by Curtis while the JDHS scoring came via opponents’ miss hits and service errors.

After committing a miss hit to give JDHS point six, Sohi’s Fischer killed and Simac served to a 15-6 lead with kills by Fischer and Lane.

Another miss hit gave JDHS a point and the Crimson Bears gave one back on a service error as did the Stars.

Sohi’s Kruse served to a 20-8 advantage with an ace and two kills, and a block by Kruse.

A net violation gave JDHS service and Troxel served to 20-11 on two Sohi miss hits.

A kill by the Stars’ Curtis put service into Lane’s hands and she pushed the lead to 24-11 with an ace and kills by Lane and Kruse.

A Stars miss hit gave service to JDHS and Lockhart earned an ace to pull to within 24-13, but Kruse killed a shot for the set, and match, 25-13.

Lockhart was awarded the ASAA Player of the Game for JDHS and Brown earned the honor for Sohi.

Cooper had six points scored on serve for JDHS (including one ace), Troxel five (2 aces), Lockhart four, Ma’ake two, Thomas two (1 ace), Brie Powers one and Harris one.

Ma’ake had 23 pass attempts, Lockhart 15, Troxel 13, Braith Dihle 12, Powers, and Harris one apiece. Cooper had eight assists and Powers six.

Ma’ake had six kills, Dihle four, Effers and Harris three apiece, Lockhart and Richards two apiece. Richards had three blocks and Ma’ake two.

Lockhart had 19 digs, Ma’ake 11, Troxel seven, Cooper and Richards three apiece, Powers two, Dihle, Thomas and Effers one each.

Both teams suffered an opening tournament loss on Thursday with JDHS falling to Service 3-0 (25-18, 25-7, 25-18) and Soldotna falling to Dimond 3-1 (28-26, 27-25, 21-25, 25-14).

Service then advanced over Dimond 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-17).

On Friday Chugiak, a 3-1 (17-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-20) loser to Wasilla Thursday, eliminated Lathrop 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-14) and faced Dimond in an elimination game later in the day, falling out of the tournament 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-9).

Lathrop had lost Thursday to South Anchorage 3-0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-17). South then defeated Wasilla 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-12, 21-25, 15-8) and faced Service in a semifinal Friday, winning 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-15).

Wasilla would eliminate Soldotna Friday afternoon 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-18) and then eliminate Dimond Friday evening 3-1 (25-19, 26-24, 17-25, 25-22) and will face Service in an elimination game Saturday morning with the winner advancing to play South Anchorage in the championship at 3 p.m.

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

More in Sports

Metlakatla’s Willie Hayward floats through Klukwan defenders Dave Buss (22), Erik McCormick (6) and Andrew Friske (12) during Masters Bracket action Monday at the 76th Annual Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament in Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé’s George Houston Gymnasium. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Monday madness at Gold Medal

Late night track meet, early morning celebration, mid-day shootout.

A red-winged blackbird male shows off his colorful “epaulets.” (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
On the Trails: Spring comes slowly

February ground to a halt and March slowly geared up. Days were… Continue reading

Hydaburg’s Devin Edenshaw looks for a move against Hoonah’s (#2) during a C bracket game Sunday at the the 76th Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament on Sunday, March 23, at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Opening day of 76th Juneau Lions Club Gold Medal Basketball Tournament sets the bar high

Big games, little games, games of all shapes and sizes are underway at weeklong tournament at JDHS.

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé dance team performs a portion of their Region V tournament routine during halftime of the East Anchorage/Ketchikan state championship game Saturday at the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 3A/4A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
JDHS dance team brings magic to state tournament

Crimson Bears return to state venue for first time in 18 years

Ketchikan senior Jonathan Scoblic shoots under pressure from East Anchorage senior Muhammed Sabally (23) during the Kings’ 43-25 loss to the Thunderbirds on Saturday in the 4A championship game of the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 4A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Ketchikan gives East Anchorage a run for 4A title

Kings fly close to sun, fall to defending state champ Thunderbirds.

Sitka junior Trey Johnson scores past Nome sophomore Stanley Booth during the Wolves’ 62-43 loss to the Nanooks on Saturday in the 3A championship game of the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 3A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Sitka falls to Nome in 3A state championship

Wolves lead Nanooks in third quarter, but lose 62-43.

Mt. Edgecumbe’s Richard Didrickson Jr. (21) shoots from past the arc over Barrow’s Ethan Goodwin (2) during the Braves’ 81-73 win over the Whalers in the 3A boys 3rd/5th-place game Saturday at 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 3A/4A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Braves win shootout over Whalers for third place

Mt. Edgecumbe earns 81-73 win over Barrow at state tournament.

JDHS junior Gwen Nizich hits a shot past the arc over Mountain City Christian Academy’s Jasmine Schaeffer (23) during the Crimson Bears’ 57-37 loss to the Lions in the 3rd/5th-place game Saturday at 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 4A Basketball State Championships in Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
JDHS girls fall to Mountain City to finish state play

Crimson Bears place fifth in 57-37 loss to Lions on Saturday

Ketchikan senior Gage Massin (5) hits the game winner in the Kings’ 46-43 semifinal overtime win against the Grizzlies on Friday at the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 3A/4A Basketball State Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Ketchikan boys top Grace to earn championship game

Ketchikan senior Gage Massin hit a fade-away shot in the key with… Continue reading

Most Read