By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Student athletes are back in action and on the volleyball court this week in a three-way jamboree tournament between Sitka, Mt. Edgecumbe and Juneau-Douglas high schools. Fresh out of a second-place finish in a tournament in the Kenai Peninsula last week, the Sitka High Lady Wolves toppled both of their opponents, Thursday at Mt. Edgecumbe High.
While the volleyball jamboree is an informal competition with only three sets in each match, the whirlwind of gameplay gives teams a chance to hone their skills.
Ava Brady is one of three returning varsity players on Sitka’s team this year.
Sitka High volleyball players pose for a shot after beating Juneau-Douglas at the Mt. Edgecumbe High gymnasium, Thursday afternoon. The volleyball Jamboree continues today. (Sentinel photo by James Poulson)
“We have lots of room to grow. But we’re playing really well – I think we had really good chemistry. We’ve just got to keep building that. I think it’s gone pretty well so far, like as well as it could have gone,” she told the Sentinel.
While she hopes the team improves the consistency of their gameplay through the season, the senior thinks her team’s technical skills are solid.
“We’re serving really well. We’re getting a lot of balls up on defense – it’s a really important part of the game,” she said. “If our defense and our energy are good, and our serves are good, then there’s a good chance that we’re going to win.”
Although the Lady Wolves lack some varsity experience, their talent was on full display as they defeated Juneau-Douglas 25-8 and 25-16 and went on to down MEHS 25-12 in the final set of the night. While the Lady Braves’ defense held Sitka at bay in the beginning of the set, the Lady Wolves found their footing and pulled away to win by a wide margin.
The season is young, but Brady has an eye on the future.
“The overall goal is winning a championship, but just having fun and doing the best that we can,” she said. “Just growing as a team and individually too.”
After missing out on the 2021 season due to injury, Sitka junior Dalila Callahan was happy to be in action.
“The energy’s back. It’s just good to be back… Our team dynamic just connected very quickly in the beginning of the season,” Callahan said.
Though Sitka scored wins against their cross-bridge rivals Thursday, Callahan noted that much of Edgecumbe’s squad was absent.
“It’s definitely different without all their players, but it’s still really good competition, and we’re having good rallies and having good games,” she said.
SHS sophomore Mecca Goldsberry, who moved back to Sitka recently after years in Wasilla, said it was odd shifting from a large 4A school to a smaller 3A school, but she enjoys the team atmosphere.
“It’s good. I like the environment, I like my teammates. They’re really positive, they’re never negative,” Goldsberry said.
She emphasized the team’s on-court communication as a strength.
“We’re communicating pretty well and we’re getting our out-of-system plays down. We’re able to set it up when the setters are setting and getting a kill and stuff like that,” she said.
So far, the team has impressed coach Zaide Allen despite the lack of experienced varsity athletes.
“We did a tournament last weekend and then we had games the weekend before that, so this is our third weekend of games. We have three seniors, a junior, and then the rest of our team is sophomores, but I feel like they’re working really well together,” Allen said. “And there are things to clean up but they’re working very hard at cleaning those up.”
Specifically, she’d like to see the team improve its “out-of-system hitting. So that means that the setter got the first ball and then we had someone else that’s not a setter setting it and then we were trying to hit it and trying to place the ball and that was just not it. It wasn’t working. But today we were able to really do a lot better at that.”
She was happy with the team’s second-place finish in the six-team tourney last weekend up north.
“They have a really good camaraderie together. They work well together, they’re bringing a lot of energy. I feel like they’re hitting it well. Our defense has been pretty good,” the coach said.
Thursday was the first competition of the season for the Lady Braves. The team earned a 2-0 win over Juneau to open the Jamboree, but then fell to Juneau and Sitka in their remaining matches that spanned most of Thursday afternoon and stretched well into the evening.
“It’s super exciting. We have three new girls that we’ve never played with before. And we did really good to beat JD in both sets. We were close to Sitka, but I think more of it was just like having fun,” Edgecumbe junior Carliese O’Brien said.
The team’s defense, she said, is a key strength at this point in the season.
“Definitely our defense. Our defense has to be one of the main parts of our success. And same with the chemistry on the court. I feel like we’re getting there,” she said.
While O’Brien has played on the varsity team before, it was a new experience for sophomore Lauren Cedars. Like her teammate, she highlighted her team’s defensive capabilities.
“I think we all did a good job with our defense,” Cedars said. The squad’s on-court communication, however, needs some work, she added.
Lady Braves coach Mike Mahoney was very happy with his team’s performance in their first night of gameplay.
“They played out of their minds today. We just started, this is our first week,” he said. “Some of these girls, I learned their names this week. They’ve had four practices together… (They) played unbelievable. Beating Juneau’s varsity! I mean, I have five girls out right now.”
The coach is eager to see what his players can do once the full team is assembled.
“We need to come together as our team. Actually, we need to have all 12 of our varsity girls on the floor at the same time, healthy. That’s what we’re working on right now. We just need everyone to have a little time. Mt. Edgecumbe teams typically start out a little rough and we grow as the season grows,” Mahoney said. “If this is where we’re starting, I have really high hopes for this for this team.”
Sitka, Mt. Edgecumbe and Juneau all face off again tonight. Varsity teams play at MEHS, while junior varsity and C teams will compete at Sitka High.
