Submitted by VHS J.V. Volleyball Coach
This weekend the Valdez Buccaneers traveled to Anchorage to compete in the Dimond/Service Volleyball Tournament. In a pack of 16 teams from Alaska’s road system, Valdez was one of only four 3-A schools playing up in a 4-A competition. This was the culminating weekend for our junior varsity squad and the best way to go out with a bang!
On Friday, the 16 teams were divided into four separate pools which would determine the two brackets for our Saturday matches. Valdez would need to face North Pole, Chugiak, and West to work their way toward their goal— playing in the top Gold bracket against the best 4-A teams in the state.
The Bucs came out hot against the North Pole Patriots, a team we had faced earlier in our season at our hometown Valdez Invite. Starting out for the Bucs were Raegan Lawrence, Peyton Branshaw, Laken Unger, Olivia Marchant, Ava Mitchell, and Layla Scott. The Bucs controlled the pace of the game and were able to feed Branshaw at the net, who hammered down attack after attack. With strong defense from Scott and Mitchell and a tremendous tip pickup from Marchant that teetered the length of the net, the Bucs were able to beat the Patriots handily 20-12.
In the next set against the Patriots we added Amelia Alex and Savannah Hammerly into our mix. The Bucs continued to force North Pole to play defense by setting up aggressive attacks, this time predominately from Unger at the middle. The Patriots refused to back down, however, and claimed the momentum of the game. This time the Patriots came out on top 12-20, a dead even split.
Next we faced the Chugiak Mustangs. The Bucs served a perfect match in their first set against the Mustangs, which was a weakness for us in the last two sets against the Patriots. Ava Mitchel executed terrific passing precision that allowed Lawrence to continue to feed our players at the net. Ultimately the Bucs held the Mustangs to single digits in a 20-9 victory. Chugiak pulled it together in the second set, but couldn’t keep up with the Bucs’ consistent offensive attack. Unger led the team with five kills from the middle, while Strickland, Branshaw, and Alex peppered attacks from across the net. Bucs sealed the second set, 20-17.
West Anchorage was the team to beat from our pool. They came out strong right out of the gate. Their consistent and powerful serving rattled our confidence and we struggled to set up our attack. The Bucs, trying to stay afloat, found themselves playing it safe with easy tips and free balls. West converted these easy pickups into kills. We lost the first set 11-20. The Bucs were a little more aggressive in the next set. We claimed a few kills of our own. Lawrence picked up a beautiful diving save that kept us in a long rally that let to a Buccaneer point. Ultimately West won 16-20.
At the end of the Friday pool play the Bucs had earned themselves a place in the gold bracket, an accomplishment our JV team has not earned before along with Kenai, the only other 3A school.
Our first match of Saturday was bright and early against Kenai. The Bucs were firing on all pistons with attacks and kills from Strickland, Franklin, Unger, and
Branshaw, along with back row attacks and kills from Scott and Kilian. The Bucs won the first set 25-19 against the Cardinals. The Bucs suffered in the next set from serve receive errors and net faults which gave Kenai all the momentum they needed to take the second set 11-25. The Bucs fell apart in set three and Kenai was able to finish the match before we were able to make a complete rotation on the floor. Final score 6-15. Ouch!
Our next battle was against Dimond. The Bucs started out with a very strong serving game. Branshaw became a huge back row presence picking up cross shots and tips. The Bucs were able to get up some attacks but just not enough to hold us in the game. Dimond won 13-25. Communication drops were a serious downfall in both of these sets. In our next set Laela Scott made some beautiful dive saves—one of her best games of the night! The Bucs were able to earn 18 points, but Dimond took the match in two sets.
Last but not least, the Bucs faced Juneau in our final match of the tournament.
In this match we unleashed Olivia Kilian as a spot server. She served well in all three sets, but served ten in a row in the second set! All three of these sets were tight, but Juneau took the overall victory winning two out of three sets.
We are so proud of this Junior Varsity team. They have fought toe-to-toe with the best junior varsity teams in the state and held their own tremendously! Well done, Bucs!
