CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2018 HOMECOMING COURT

Freshmen:  Lily Alfaro and Josh Baczuk

Sophomores: Rylie King and Clay Woodgate

Juniors: Macy Hansen and Gage Critchlow

Seniors: Destiny Gray and Raymond Martel

Gage Critchlow and Macy Hansen – Homecoming Court at Football Game

Volleyball (Coach Adam Sharrai):

VHS Volleyball Player Sydney Johnson

The Lady Bucs hosted the Valdez Invitational Volleyball Tournament  this past weekend. Nine teams traveling to Valdez for the tournament:  ACS, GALENA, DELTA, SEWARD, BARROW, BETHEL, REDINGTON , EIELSON, and NORTH POLE!  After both late and early arrivals and some needed sleep, pool play began Friday at noon with every team playing each other in one rally score game to 25.  Valdez Lady Bucs posted wins for nine games:  Valdez  25 – ACS 17, Valdez 25 – Galena 13, Valdez 25 – Delta 15, Valdez 25 – Seward 10, Valdez 25 – Barrow 14, Valdez 25 – Bethel 12, Valdez 25 – Eielson 16 , but dropped one game to North Pole 17 – 25.  This set up the division for the Gold Bracket play where the Lady Bucs answered with straight wins over ACS, Barrow, Seward, and North Pole to seal their spot in the championship match.

North Pole and Seward rallied it out with ACS and Barrow for the other championship spot. Both teams had losses to Valdez and had to let a points differential decide who earned another shot at the Lady Bucs.  North Pole prevailed and the re-match was set.

Valdez Lady Bucs played very well in Game One, pushing their play hard and taking North Pole 25-13.  Knowing North Pole as a fighting team, the Lady Bucs came into Game Two determined to push even harder, communicate clearer, and cover each other’s back closer!  Push they did, and with the crowd behind them, they made it happen.  Great serving, controlled passing, soft setting, wicked hitting, and heads-up placement, the Lady Bucs teamwork held off North Pole to take them in the second game, Valdez  25 – North Pole 18.

Kassi Howard served, passed, and hit her way onto the All-Tournament Team selected by the opposing team coaches.  Setting honors of the Tournament went to Carlee Fleming, as her well placed sets found many teammates throughout the games. Sydney Johnson showed how her power hits the floor, was also chosen to receive hitting honors for the Tournament.  Kendal Wesenberg was everywhere in the backcourt, as libero, picking up hits, keeping play alive, and serving very effectively along with Jillian Fleming passing and serving very well also.  Jade Watts continued serving up nothing but trouble, hitting her left powerfully in the front row, digging it out in the backcourt, and lending her soft help sets when needed.  Ally Sieber returned after resting her back last week and got right back into it with hitting, blocking, and tipping. Maison Anderson showed her awareness of the court with some blocks, well placed tips, and corner placements.  Kira Friend dug it out and passed well in the back row.  Jackie Stewart added to her front row experience along with Jade Holmes, looking very comfortable relieving Carlee Fleming for some setting time with some well placed sets.

The Lady Bucs played very well this weekend and I know they are looking forward to adding to their abilities, both individually and as a team. They  continue to push their competitiveness and level of play.   Great Job Lady Bucs—keep pushing your limits and enjoying your season!

Carlie Fleming, Jade Watts, Kassie Howard & Sydney Johnson Lining Up for a Game

JV Volleyball (Coach Katie Burns):

The 2018 Valdez Volleyball Invitational was a huge success.  The Lady Bucs JV team was able to split into two squads to compete for this weekend in a pool of ten total teams from around the State.  This opportunity gave our athletes more competitive playing time to strengthen their skills.

On the JV-B squad, Aly Metzger did an exceptional job at passing to the target and providing an opportunity for her team to execute an attack.  Her bullet serves were also a factor in gaining momentum within our sets.  Paris Pennington made some critical blocks at the net, and Marianne Prax snagged some amazing saves for her team to keep the ball in play.

For the JV-A team, Anna Agcaoili did an incredible job as Libero. A visiting referee noted her as having the best read on the ball and ability to receive difficult serves and attacks.   Savannah Cockerham led the team with attacks on the net that led to kills.  This team finished 23-25 against North Pole, 26-28 against Delta, and 21-25 against Seward — the top three competitors in the tournament.

Aly Metzger and Ambrosia Woodgate were awarded places on the All-Tournament team for the Silver Bracket and Reese King made the All-Tournament team for the Gold Bracket.

The team as a whole did an excellent job working together, covering at the net, and setting up attacks.  Great work, Lady Bucs!

Valdez Invitational Volleyball Tournament Results:

J.V.  Silver Division All-Tournament Team

1. Valdez—Aly Metzger
2. Valdez—Ambrosia Woodgate
3. Eielson—Gracie Thompson
4. Barrow—Maaku Sue’su’e
5. Barrow—Brooke Singson
6. ACS—Ayrieanne Terell
7. Redington—Lexi Gawley-Seymore
8. Redington—Delaney Reavis

J.V.  Silver Division 1st Place:  Redington Huskies

J.V. Gold Division All-Tournament Team

1. Valdez—Reese King
2. Bethel—Angeline Alexie
3. North Pole—Jocelyn Harer
4. North Pole—Olivia Ode
5. North Pole—Alivia Himebauch
6. Seward—Kyrsten Johnson-Gray
7. Seward—Angel Purigay
8. Seward—Selma Casgranda

J.V. Gold 1st Place:  Seward Seahawks

Varsity Silver Division All-Tournament Team

1. Delta—Keeley Harris
2. Delta—Anita Kravets
3. Eielson—Shannon Holan
4. Eielson—Karla Villanueva
5. Bethel—Deja Jackson
6. Bethel—Brianna Evan
7. Redington—Varvaara Kuzmin
8. Redington—Brooke Harmon

Varsity Silver Division 1st Place:  Bethel Warriors

Varsity Gold Division All-Tournament Team

1. Valdez. —Kassi Howard
2. Seward—-Allie Tolog
3. Seward—-Coral Petrosius
4. Seward—-Ashley Jackson
5. Barrow—Sarah Mila
6. North Pole—Sydney Teel
7. North Pole—Kylie Erickson
8. North Pole—Ainsley Smith

Best Setter—-Valdez—Carlee Fleming

Best Defense—ACS—Mary Kate Parks

Best Hitter—Valdez—Sydney Johnson

1^st Place Varsity Gold:  Valdez Buccaneers

Cross Country Running (Coach Mel Koontz):

9/14/18 – Delta Invite

Fall is in full swing up country.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather for driving or running in Delta.  The Buccaneer’s Cross-Country team head to Delta on Friday morning for a race that same afternoon.  The team consensus is that driving and running on the same day is tough mentally and physically.

The race coordinator and new to Delta, Tom Graves, changed the location of the course.  He stated that the runners must have a lot of grit if they are accustomed to running the previous course, which included a monstrous hill.  The runners had prepared for the big hill and were slightly disappointed that the course had changed to loops in the trees near the school.  The course consisted of gentle rolling hills, which made for a fast race.

We were disappointed to learn that the race would have unofficial results with records being kept by coaches only.  All teams were verified with other coaches at the finish line.  On the upside, all runners had their fastest times of the season and we finally had the whole team together.  For the girls, Junior Katelyn Wadsworth overcame reoccurring shin and calf injuries to complete the 5km course in 24:35, a season best.  Keeping his eyes on state, Junior Kalin Woods finished in the top 10 with a personal best of 17:49.  K. Woods started off fast, quickly moving up to 3^rd place.  He lost a little speed on his first lap through the trees, but picked it back up for the second lap and sprinted through the finish line, barely passing a West Valley runner.  Junior Rafael Alfaro was exactly a minute behind him with a personal best of 18:49.  Alfaro started the race at a comfortable pace and slowly began to pick up the pace.  Alfaro came out of nowhere, sprinting to the finish line at full speed.  Senior Dustin Woods picked up his pace with a strong finish of 22:02, a new personal best.  Freshman William Benes keeps quickening his pace and finished strong with 24:17.  Sophomore Wyatt Mehlberg competed in his first high school cross-country race and finished with the support of his team in 28:07.  Runners were excited with their times.  They have learned how to push their limits and are reaping the rewards.  Wadsworth was ecstatic to run without pain during or after the race.

Our last race is Regionals, coming up this Saturday In Fairbanks.  Each runner has gotten progressively faster throughout the season.  Wish them luck on their final race when you see them around town.

Football (Coach Lee Chadwick):

Owen Chadwick Runs the Ball Against Redington Saturday

The football team enjoyed playing its third and final home game of the season in the sunshine again on Saturday. Before the game, Luke Baczuk and Lexi Stanford (manager) were recognized as seniors participating in the final home game of their careers.

Hayden Howard With the Ball

Playing Redington in our homecoming game, we gave a good effort but finally ended up losing the contest 21-20.  Early in the game, Owen Chadwick squirted through a big hole created by Moe Morgan, James Letendre, and Logan Anderson before outrunning the defense to the end zone. A failed PAT, however, proved to be one of several missed opportunities to come out on top in the end.  Later in the first half, a scoring run by Hayden Howard through several would-be tacklers put Valdez up by 12 points. Another failed PAT left the score at 12-0. Redington answered with a long kick return. Several plays later, they scored on a passing attempt and made their PAT kick to leave a halftime score of 12-7.

In the second half, a long drive was capped off by a Hayden Howard run behind a great block by Hunter Francis. A PAT pass from Luke Baczuk to Howard put Valdez to 20 points. Redington responded by scoring once more and making their PAT to put the score at 20-14.  A series of unfortunate events then began to unwind. A great defensive effort by Valdez stopped the Redington offense inside the 10. A couple of miscued plays led to a 3^rdand very long situation. On third down, a great run was stopped 3 yards short of a first down. On 4^thdown and 3 to go on our own 15 yard line, we attempted to punt. A snap over the punter’s head, however, led to a scramble that resulted in him being tackled on our one yard line. This lead to an easy 6 points for Redington to tie the game, and their PAT kick was successful giving them a 1 point lead. With about 3 minutes left in the game, we put together one more drive that brought us into striking distance at about Redington’s 17 yard line. With less than a minute on the clock, we failed to connect on a couple of passing plays to take advantage of Redington’s defensive miscues, and ultimately came up short.

The starting defensive line of Dennis Mott, Logan Anderson, Gaspar DeLeon, and Evan Clark had a terrific game, shutting down much of Redington’s inside running game.  Additional pressure on the quarterback by Moe Morgan was instrumental in two interceptions by Luke Baczuk and Owen Chadwick.

With two games remaining in the season, we head to Eielson on Friday. Eielson has had a stellar season losing only to West Valley so far, and will be a tough opponent this coming Saturday.  We look forward to continuing to improve our defensive game in the upcoming contest.

This Week in Sports:

Rifle Match vs Lathrop at Home – Friday, September 21 @ 6:30 pm (VHS Rifle Range)

Cross Country Running @ Fairbanks for Regionals at Birch Hill – Saturday; September 22

Volleyball @ Delta for “C”, JV, and Varsity Games – Friday, September 21 & Saturday, September 22

Swimming @ North Pole (Westcott Pool) – Friday, September 21

Football @ Eielson