Back on Oct 16 and 17, the Glennallen volleyball team took part in a tournament on the road, dubbed the Birchwood Block Party. The Lady Panthers dominated the event, winning every set along the way to win the championship.
“It felt great to win the Birchwood Block Party,” head coach Kelsey Stanbro said. “The real test was going to be taking down a strong Su-Valley team. They’ve finished (well) at the state meet the last three years and are a strong team at adjusting to other teams. It was great to get that win and that gives us some confidence going into the Su-Valley tournament this weekend.” Stanbro continued the tourney “will host Unalaska who won state the last two years, as well as Cordova, and Bethel (3A team)- all are super strong and will give some challenging matches and show us where we need to improve.”
On the first day of the tourney, the Panthers defeated Lumen Christi 25-11 and 25-14, then took down Holy Rosary 25-5 and 25-6. On the second day, they topped Susitna Valley 25-16 and 25-20, followed by a win over Birchwood Christian, 25-11 and 25-16.
Koiana Cooley, Carrie Miller and Chloe Palacios each made the all-tournament team for their efforts. Miller had 20 kills, Cooley had 15 and Rene Rock-Albert had 14 kills. Miller also served at 96-percent and had 18 aces, Palacios had seven aces to go with her 94-percent service rate, Cooley got her hands on 28 digs and Palacios added 26 digs. Miller and Lala Stone also led the team in blocks.
On Oct. 23-24, Glennallen was at Tri-Valley for a tournament. The varsity team took second place, and the JV squad was able to claim the championship.
Varsity went undefeated in pool play, defeating Nenana, Tri-Valley, Holy Rosary, Tok, Effie Kokrine and Lumen Christi. They defeated Lumen Christi again in bracket play, but fell to Tri-Valley in a close championship match, 25-23, 23-25 and 15-9.
“Our varsity team is showing a lot of potential, but we’re really trying to key in on discipline no matter who we are playing and taking big swings,” Stanbro said. “We’ve been trying to add to our tool box and see the court better. Right now, our block with Miller, Stone, Cooley, and Rock- Albert has been huge for us in shutting down some talented players, but there’s still some aspects of our game where we need to fall back to the basics. Our basics broke down in the third set against Tri-Valley and cost us that championship.”
Cooley finished with 29 kills, Stone had 23 kills and Rock-Albert added 22. Gracie Kvamme was also solid serving, getting 31 aces to go along with her 62 assists. Palacios added 26 digs and seven aces.
The Lady Panther JV team went undefeated in the tourney, with pool play seeing them defeat Tri-Valley twice and Effie Kokrine twice. They topped Tri-Valley a third time in the championship, 22-25, 25-9 and 15-4.
Named to the all-tournament team was Joelle Scribner (MVP), Natalie Stockhausen and Matilda Carlton.
“I was really impressed with our JV going out and winning the tournament,” Stanbro said. “Some of those girls are fighting for a spot on our varsity roster for regionals and state so it’s good for them to get playing time in.”
The solid play continued for the Glennallen volleyball team over the weekend. The Lady Panthers finished in second place at the Oct 30-31 tournament at Su-Valley, even though they were a little shorthanded.
On the first day, Glennallen defeated Unalaska 26-24, 22-25 and 15-7 and they also took down host Su-Valley 25-22 and 25-23.
Day two saw them top Bethel 25-18, 20-25 and 15-13 and they also took down Cook Inlet Academy, 25-20 and 25-18. The Panthers came up short in the final match to Cordova however, 25-19 and 25-17.
“Cordova and Glennallen went into their last matches undefeated,” Stanbro said. “We were missing sophomore libero Chloe Palacios which gave Preslyn Thompson the chance to show out as libero and gave freshmen Niya Korth and Natalie Stockhausen the opportunity to earn playing time.”
Carrie Miller led the team in kills for the weekend with 23 and she also served at a 94-percent success rate and had 13 aces. Rene Rock-Albert was also solid behind the service line, going 88-percent with 12 aces.
Glennallen heads to Tok on Monday, Nov. 9 and they host Tri-Valley on Nov. 11 for senior night.
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