By KLAS STOLPE
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Mt. Edgecumbe High Lady Braves opened the Alaska School Activities Association 3A/4A Volleyball State Championships today with a loss to the Grace Christian Grizzlies in three sets, falling by scores of 25-14, 25-15, 25-16.
“We couldn’t get anything started today,” Mt. Edgecumbe coach Michael Mahoney said. “Grace was looking really good. Their defense was really good and their hitters were doing a good job of moving the ball around and hitting and tipping on us.”
He said the Lady Braves played nervous.
“We have been to the state tournament every year but it seems like this year we have a lot of players that don’t have experience at the state tournament,” he said. “We were afraid to make mistakes and it made them make more mistakes. Hopefully, they got it out of their system today. There were moments, in the third set we were close 16-13 at one point, playing right with them, but we made some errors and tightened up again.”
Mt. Edgecumbe’s Haley Sweet-Cushing (14), Amy Bioff (6) and Joeli Carlson (11) stay ready as Shayna Warnke-Green (2) hits during last weeks Region V tournament action in Juneau. The Lady Braves are in Anchorage for state tourney play. (Sentinel Photo by Klas Stolpe)
Mt. Edgecumbe, the Southeast Conference number one seed, will next play at 10 a.m. Friday morning against the loser of the Monroe Rams (Aurora Con. #2) and Nome Nanooks (Western Con. #2) match. That score was not available by press time.
Grace, the Southcentral number-two seed, advanced to today’s 1:30 p.m. winners bracket match against the winner of Monroe and Nome. Mt. Edgecumbe defeated Monroe earlier this season 3 sets to 2 and again in a one-game tourney 25-17. They have not faced Nome this season.
The tournament is a double-elimination format, meaning a team can continue to challenge for the state championship until they lose their second match.
“You come up here to play volleyball, so that is hopefully what we get to do,” Mahoney said. “Nobody likes to go two and out. We know how to play the game. We just have to get them to relax and play more consistent. Amy Bioff played well. The thing that impressed me most about the team, even though they were struggling to get something going, they played together as a team. I wouldn’t say there was any one person that stood out but they didn’t get down on each other and they kept trying and never gave up. I think we’ll be more solid tomorrow morning. We’re going to go get after it.”
Mt. Edgecumbe’s tournament roster includes seniors Amy Bioff (Nome), Leticia Skaflestad (Hoonah), Tyra Brown (Chevak), Grace Garner (Ouzinkie), Haley Sweet-Cushing (Haines), and Sanora Bell (Yakutat); juniors Joeli Carlson (Bethel), Maggie Miller (Nome), Vernae Ramoth (Ambler), and Shayna Warnke-Green (Nome); and sophomores Angelina Ong (Old Harbor) and Brody Wysocki (Dillingham).
Today’s other 3A tournament matches pitted the Valdez Buccaneers (Aurora #1) against the Homer Mariners (Southcentral #2), and the Nikiski Bulldogs (Southcentral #1) against the Barrow Whalers (Western #1). Matches continue through Friday and Saturday.
The Thunder Mountain Falcons (Southeast #1) opened their 4A state tournament double-elimination play against West Anchorage (Cook Inlet #2) at 3:15 p.m. today.
Other opening day 4A matches include Wasilla (Northern Lights #3) against South Anchorage (Cook Inlet No. 3); Dimond (Cook Inlet #1) against Colony (Northern Lights No. 2); and West Valley (Mid Alaska #1) against Soldotna (Northern Lights #1).
