By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
With coronavirus cases on the rise in Sitka, the Region V volleyball tournament has been postponed, school officials told the Sentinel today.
Sitka High Activities Director Rich Krupa said that the decision was made after the school district went to a “red” virus risk level with a total of 15 new cases over two weeks.
“Games have been postponed until we are out of Red. We have until Nov. 21 when all activities need to be completed. All activities will stop on Nov. 21 according to direction by ASAA,” Krupa wrote in an email.
Although the regional tourney is in doubt, the Sitka High Lady Wolves nonetheless pulled off a 6-0 victory over the Lady Kings in Ketchikan last Thursday and Friday. Sitka High won 25-19, 25-16, and 25-12 Thursday and 25-19, 25-16, and 25-12 on Friday.
The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves traveled south as well, falling in three matches against Ketchikan’s Lady Kings Friday, but turning the situation on its head and winning 3-0 Saturday. Edgecumbe’s set scores were 20-25, 5-25, and 20-25 Friday, but the Braves evened the record 25-12, 25-19, and 25-20 Saturday.
Wolves’ coach Zaide Allen said that in her team’s first out-of-town game this season, the players needed some time to adjust.
“We’ve been very consistent up until this point, but before the (first) game even started the girls were like ‘My serving feels weird’… We were missing a lot of serves and they got really conservative on their serving,” Allen said.
But her team pulled together and held off the Kings with solid blocking and passing.
“The Ketchikan team also plays differently. They seemed to go through some ups and downs too. We blocked really well this weekend, but we didn’t do very well on serve receive. We did all right passing in general and we hit really well,” she said.
The coach praised Jocelyn Brady, Morgan Feldpausch, and Chloe Morrison for their work over the weekend as well.
Allen was glad that her team had a chance to travel this year.
“It was fun to travel and go to Ketchikan. We really had a good time leaving Sitka and although it was weird and there were differences, it also had a sense of normalcy to travel and go be in that gym. So that was fun for them to be able to go and do that. It was really good to watch the team face a little bit of being down and having to work their way back up – we haven’t been in that situation this year,” she said.
The Lady Braves fell 0-3 to Kayhi on Friday before winning three Saturday. Mt. Edgecumbe coach Mike Mahoney ascribed the Friday losses to the fact that these were the first travel matches for his team this year.
“We had one really bad set (Friday, a 5-25 loss), things just kind of melted down. But the other two sets were not bad. They were just playing travel ball,” Mahoney said.
But his team began shifting late Friday, he said.
“We knew that we could beat them as a team. I would say that the dramatic reversal was actually on Friday. I would chalk it up to a new team, first time traveling,” the coach said.
The Lady Braves fielded only two players this year who were varsity last year: Angelina Ong and Brody Wysocki. The coach highlighted Annie Larson, a sophomore from Fairbanks, for her excellent blocking work over the weekend.
Mahoney praised how his team played Saturday.
“They were ready to go… (It was) probably the best they’ve played all year,” he said.
The coach noted that his athletes limited their unforced errors, which helped propel them to victory.
“They just limited their errors and if you find that you let the other team play you have a much better chance of success,” he said.
He told the Sentinel today that his team will continue to practice in the hopes that the regional tournament will occur.
“Bummed that it isn’t happening this week, but we will keep practicing and are hopeful that we will get it in,” he said of the tourney.
Allen said that she was happy for the chances her team had this season.
“I’m just happy we made it this far without any problems,” she said.
Those games were previously set to begin Thursday in Sitka prior to the increase in virus cases.
