By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves volleyball team put up a curtain of darkness along the front line of an otherwise brightly lit B.J. McGillis Gymnasium Thursday night, sweeping the Barrow Lady Whalers 3-0 by set scores of 25-12, 25-14, and 25-13.
Junior outside hitter Shayna Warnke-Green (Nome) had 11 kills and eight digs in the match; senior middle hitters Haley Sweet-Cushing (Haines), five kills and a block; Tyra Brown (Chevak), five scoring hits and three blocks; and Leticia Skaflestad (Hoonah), three kills and a block; and junior opposite side hitter Vernae Ramoth (Ambler) completed the front row with four kills and two blocks.
“Mainly, you have to do a lot of communication up front,” Sweet-Cushing said. “And, honestly, just watch your setter. There is no being good up in the front row without the communication with your setter and communication with the back row.”
Warnke-Green agreed, saying “It’s just making sure with the setter, being on time, making sure you know what everyone is doing, and just timing.”
The timing was all Mt. Edgecumbe’s.
Senior libero Grace Garner (Ouzinkie), with 18 digs, picked up nearly every shot that came over the net and passed it along to senior setter Amy Bioff (Nome) who finished with 27 assists and two digs. Sophomore Brody Wysocki (Dillingham), with 11 digs, Anglina Ong (Old Harbor), five digs, and junior Joeli Carlson (Bethel), two digs, also ruled the back line.
Mt. Edgecumbe senior libero Grace Garner (12), from Ouzinkie, digs up a serve as sophomore Anglina Ong (4), from Old Harbor, and junior Shayna Warnke-Green (2), from Nome, support the play during the Lady Braves 3-0 match win over the Barrow Lady Whalers on Thursday at the B.J. McGillis Gym. (Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)
“I just try to keep a good mindset,” Garner said. “I watch where the girls are going and I am reading the hitters constantly and I’m just ready. I am just very passionate about volleyball, I’m thinking about it 24-seven, so I’m paying a lot of attention when I’m playing on the court.”
In game one, Garner dug up a tough serve for a 5-1 lead and ball control, slid under an attempted kill shot for a saving pass to Bioff, who set a perfect ball for a Warnek-Green slam and 9-6 advantage that allowed Carlson to serve to 14-6 with three aces.
As the sides traded scores Bioff killed for a 15-7 lead, Barrow freshman Jenilee Donovan killed to close to 15-10, and Mt. Edgecumbe’s Sweet-Cushing killed to retain serve for senior Sanora Bell (Yakutat), who put the ball over to reach 20-10 with kills by Brown and an ace.
A miss hit scored one for Barrow but they gave the ball back and Bioff served to 24 on an ace before a returned ball was netted to score Barrow’s final point.
A Lady Whalers service error gave the set to the Lady Braves 25-12.
“The girls are playing well,” Mt. Edgecumbe head coach Michael Mahoney said. “I’m super proud of the fact that they’re able to, when they have a shank or a bad pass or something like that, they are able to mentally go on to the next point.”
Game two stayed close until Skaflestad blocked a ball to retain serve and Brown blocked a point and killed another and Bioff aced a serve and then another and held a 14-7 lead.
Three blocks on one point by Brown gave Wysocki the service after a Barrow exchange and she found an ace and a Warnke-Green kill to get to 20-9.
In scoring exchanges, Barrow senior Sarah Mila hit a shot to pull to 20-11, Mt. Edgecumbe’s Brown killed for 22-11, Skaflestad blocked for 24-11 and after a service error by the Lady Braves, the Lady Whalers did the same to fall 25-14.
“They’re starting to run more plays,” Mahoney said. “They’re being more forward thinking with what they are going to do in the future instead of just reacting to the ball.”
Case in point was in the third game.
Leading 15-6, Bioff faked a set to Sweet-Cushing in the middle. Sweet-Cushing crushed her swing through the air and two defenders took the bait. The ball continued its set high over Sweet-Cushing and outside hitter Wysocki killed it down the line for point 16. The same fake was run earlier in the match with Warnke-Green getting the kill shot.
“We ran all three middles today and they all did a good job,” Mahoney said. “Leticia Skaflestad was in there for two games, Tyra Brown is going to be phenomenal, she can just drill it, and Haley Sweet-Cushing, this is her first year playing up on the varsity squad with us and she’s learning super fast… It is just tough to defend against two really strong middles… I have a wonderful problem, I have to find playing time for three great players. And it makes us better as a team that they are pushing each other.
Barrow notched a couple points later to close to 16-10 but Bioff put a run of five serves in with a kill by Skafflestad and Ramoth, and a double block by the pair.
After a Barrow score on a miss hit, Ramoth blocked for service control and Wysocki, again aided by kills from Remote and Skafflestad, put up a 24-11 lead before swamping miss hits to end the match with Mt. Edgecumbe on top 25-13.
Mt. Edgecumbe junior Vernae Ramoth (10), from Ambler, and senior Tyra Brown (8), from Chevak, attempt to block a shot during the Lady Braves 3-0 match win over the Barrow Lady Whalers on Thursday at the B.J. McGillis Gym. (Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)
Bioff and Carlson served five aces each in the match, Carlson four, Wysocki and Garner two apiece, and Bell one.
“Throughout all the years I have been here serving has been one of the things I love to do,” Bioff said. “I love to improve it every year and learn new ways to be successful in it. Definitely it is my strong suit and I want to continue on improving it. Hopefully, it will help take us far.”
At the end of the match Sweet-Cushing and Warnke-Green, the hyphenated hitters of doom, replied in unison when asked what their attack mode is.
“Power,” they said. “Always power, always.”
Mt. Edgecumbe hosts Juneau-Douglas at 4 p.m. today and Barrow at 7 p.m. tonight. On Saturday MEHS hosts Barrow at 4 p.m. and JDHS at 7 p.m. (JDHS and Barrow play at 2 p.m. at MEHS).
