FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
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Daily Sitka Sentinel
MEHS Volleyball Team Wins State Crown
By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Mt. Edgecumbe High School volleyball team fought off two match points to win its third state championship in four years at the 3A ASAA volleyball tournament Saturday in Anchorage.
Mt. Edgecumbe’s Dani Merculief lets the ball slip past her fingers during the state 3A volleyball championships against the Monroe Catholic Rams Saturday, at the Alaska Airlines Center. (Photo by Loren Holmes/Alaska Dispatch News)
“We flexed our ‘never quit’ muscles,’” Braves Coach Mike Mahoney said. “The girls played a real tough, gritty match. ... Everybody wanted it bad. Nobody was being handed it.”
The title came down to a single set played to 30 points, win by 2, between the Braves and Monroe Catholic High School. MEHS emerged victorious with a nail-biting 33-31 win.
“We were down 24-19, so it wasn’t looking good,” Mahoney said. “Both coaches were out of time outs. I yelled at them to ‘play with heart, play with heart!’ ... They fought back tooth and nail to get to 29 even.”
The Braves staved off two match points at 30-29 and 31-30, before getting the advantage at 32-31 over the Rams.
“Kathy Holly, from the outside hit the ball deep in the corner,” Mahoney said. “It must’ve been in by two inches – that put us up by 1.”
At 32-31, Renatta Olson was serving for the match, and got the rally off to a good start with a strong serve.
“The rally went on quite a long time – (Monroe) had some good hits, and our back row was digging them up,” Mahoney said. The match ended with the crucial decision – and keen eye – by Taryn White who could’ve hit the tip but judged that it might go wide, and allowed the ball fall.
“Taryn White was able to go for it, and they let the ball drop,” Mahoney said. “It seemed like it dropped forever” before the line judge pulled the flag to call the ball out.
The entire arena erupted when that happened, Mahoney said.
The coach said there was screaming, hugging and “crying tears of joy” by the Braves on the court. The girls throughout the tourney had a cheer they would yell, “I believe we will win” in the final chorus. And after they took the championship, they chanted a variation, “I believe that we just won!”
Mahoney, in his first year back coaching the Braves, called the final game “the most exciting match of my entire career.”
“It was an instant classic – it was awesome,” he said. Mahoney coached the Braves more than a decade ago for a few years, and returned this year.
The Braves started their tournament in fine form, with a win against Nikiski on Thursday, 25-13, 25-11, 25-16; and against Valdez, 25-23, 25-20, 25-27, 25-20, before going up against Monroe Catholic.
Monroe Catholic defeated last year’s championship team, Grace Christian School in the quarters in straight sets, 25-14, 25-15, 25-13, and Homer in the semis, also in straight sets, to face Edgecumbe.
In the winner’s bracket game Friday night, Edgecumbe took down Monroe in four, 18-25, 25-22, 25-14, 25-17, sending Monroe to the losers bracket to face Grace Christian again. Monroe captured the Saturday morning match, 3-1, to go up against Edgecumbe again.
This time, Saturday afternoon, it was a different story between Monroe and MEHS.
“It was an absolute dogfight,” Mahoney said.
The teams were evenly matched at two games apiece, 25-23, 18-25, 25-27, 25-23, with MEHS winning the second and third sets, and Monroe Catholic taking the first and fourth.
The fifth set only goes to 15, so Edgecumbe was feeling good when the team went up 10-5.
“We could almost smell victory,” Mahoney said.
That feeling was short-lived when the Braves suffered seven unforced errors, and lost the game 15-12, which forced the final single set to 30 between the two schools for the championships.
Mahoney said the girls have a lot to be proud of. Three of the graduating seniors have three state championship titles, and one state runner-up honor to their names.
“It’s an unbelievably talented group of girls,” Mahoney said. “They work hard, they’re good teammates, they help pick each other up when they’re down – they’re a great bunch of girls to work with.”
Taryn was “lights out” at the front row, while Renatta Olson and Eden Cronk played tough in the back, digging the balls out. “Payton Weisz was great, too, rising up to the occasion,” and Angelique Zeller was a “blocking machine,” the coach said.
Although the team will be losing some key players to graduation – Olson, Holly, Cronk, Merculief and White – Mahoney feels the tradition of topnotch volleyball will be carried on by a strong group of underclassmen.
Mahoney, who coaches with Becky Friske, gave credit to building the program to former coach Rich Calkins and former assistant coach Archie Young. Young came to the game to see his former team play.
“A lot of respect goes to the job Rich Calkins did here,” Mahoney said. “He did a wonderful job preparing them for this – Rich, and Archie did a lot too.”
A celebration to honor the team is set for 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at the B.J. McGillis Field House. The public is invited to the celebration that will include recognition of the championship team members and coaches and the official presentation of the trophy to the school. Keith Perkins will be the guest speaker.
MEHS Principal Bernie Gurule said that the school administration has declared Wednesday “cardinal and gold” school colors day, when everyone is asked to wear the school colors in honor of the team’s accomplishment.
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20 YEARS AGO
March 2004
Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.
50 YEARS AGO
March 1974
Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....