By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
The Sitka High Lady Wolves rang their victory bell after beating the Mt. Edgecumbe High Lady Braves in the first match of the Region V volleyball tournament, Tuesday evening at Sitka High.
While Sitka sailed to victory in the first two sets 25-8 and 25-13, Mt. Edgecumbe’s team turned up the heat in the third set in the most intense play between the two rival teams so far this season. Sitka won the third set 25-21 after a heated contest.
Sitka senior Taliah Fredrickson said she most enjoys volleyball when the competition is lively.
“It’s way more fun. We love when they play back with us like that. It’s so much more fun to play in a competitive environment where they’re just hitting at us and the adrenaline is pumping and you’re a little bit scared,” Fredrickson said.
The Lady Braves held an early lead in the third set, and the teams were rarely separated by more than a handful of points.
Looking back on the match, Fredrickson stressed the need to view each point as an individual event.
“I just kind of clear my slate, start over and just set up again. Volleyball is such a mental sport, it’s such an easy thing to get down because it’s point by point and you could lose the point individually,” she said.
Both schools brought a complement of masked fans to the Region V match, enough to fill about half of the stands in Sitka High’s gym.
“It’s emotional, but I’m just very happy that we’ve been able to do this, especially with COVID last year,” Fredrickson said. “We didn’t get regions, it was canceled. Such a big contrast makes me happy that we were able to do this. We had a crowd, and we appreciate both crowds, you know. It’s great to have ours but it’s great to have people cheering against us too.”
Like her teammate, Sitka senior Chloe Morrison said her team needs to play each point individually.
“Kind of just keeping composure, not letting things get to your head, making it feel like it’s zero to zero… We can’t just let it get to our head, play every match as if it’s the same,” Morrison said.
Looking back on the first set in which the Wolves dominated their cross-bridge rivals with ease, Morrison said her adrenaline was up.
“The adrenaline, for sure, in the very first set we had a lot. Our crowd was great, and their crowd. So it made it feel like we wanted to win a lot,” she said.
Morrison was happy for the chance to ring the victory bell for what was likely the final time.
“That’s our last game ever playing in Sitka High – hopefully. It felt great,” she said. The rival squads face off again tonight at Mt. Edgecumbe High. The Lady Braves have yet to win a set against Sitka this season, and if Sitka wins tonight’s match, it takes the Region V title. If Mt. Edgecumbe wins, the two will play again Thursday night at Sitka High.
Wolves junior Ava Brady said that even as the Braves played with renewed intensity in the third set, she remained confident.
“It was awesome… I’m saying in my head over and over again, ‘We’ve got this,’” Brady recalled.
She noted that her team’s passing and setting went well.
Sitka coach Zaide Allen said her team adjusted well under pressure.
“Communicate with each other and just be ready for the ball to come over on anything,” Allen told her team during a timeout late in the third set. “And just make sure that we’re playing smart, and not trying to force things that don’t need to happen. When the ball comes to them just doing what’s comfortable… They reacted really well, they had their adjustment period and in the end they pulled it out and they won. That’s all I can ask of them.”
Like some athletes on Sitka’s side of the court, Mt. Edgecumbe senior Mia Anderson said her team played each point individually.
“We had a talk before our third set and we kind of just talked about playing loose, knowing what we do, communicating with each other, and just really staying positive and we talked a lot about our passes… My adrenaline was really high. There is the score but we all just learned from my coach that you look at it as 1-1 and every play is a new point,” Anderson said after the match.
As for today’s match, she hopes her team starts off calm.
“Just starting off with our nerves calmed in the beginning and keeping a positive attitude… It was just nerves right off the bat, little moments but we figured it out and went from there,” she said.
Edgecumbe coach Mike Mahoney seconded this, noting his team was steadier during the final set.
“They played well, they played a little bit more calm and we were able to get the ball to the setter,” he said. With the ball set properly, the hitters stepped up in the third set and found holes in Sitka’s defense.
Mahoney added that his team reduced the number of free balls they sent over the net in the final set.
“We played better in the third set and that’s something we can use as fuel going into the match tomorrow. Sitka’s got a good team,” Mahoney said. “Our passing in the first sets was definitely something, they weren’t making a lot of errors, but they were passing the ball back over the net and giving Sitka easy balls to hit at us. Any team that you give a bunch of free balls to is going to hit hard at you, and that’s what they did.”
The Lady Wolves and Lady Braves honored their seniors at games against Fairbanks’ Hutchison High over the weekend. The local teams beat Hutchison, sometimes by wide margins.
Looking back on their high school volleyball careers, some seniors said they don’t quite feel like seniors.
“I don’t know, I feel like since we missed a lot of school I don’t actually feel like a senior at all, so maybe it’s not clicking to me that this is our last year playing volleyball,” Wolves senior Jenivive Sibayan told the Sentinel.
Sitka setter Zaeda Dumag agreed.
“It really doesn’t feel like senior year, I really haven’t played that much this season so it feels really short to me, but I’m just glad to be back in the game,” Dumag said.
She described the season as “kind of surreal, just not knowing if I’m ever going to be able to play again. I am looking at going into college volleyball, it’s a possibility, not a for-sure thing.”
Sitka’s Riley Nutting was happy for the chance to travel and compete against a variety of teams this year.
“It hasn’t sunk in… it feels a lot more normal than last year… Rather than focusing on how weird it’s been, it’s kind of been more of us focusing on how we’ve been able to play a lot more teams and got to travel,” Nutting said.
After a full seven years of playing volleyball with her classmates, Chloe Morrison said she’ll miss her time on the court.
“Sad for sure. I’ll definitely miss the feeling of being on the court all the time, because I’ve played on this team for a long time. And the people are a big part of it. I’ve played with these girls since sixth grade, so it will be sad to not be on a team with them,” Morrison said.
Like some of her competitors across the bridge, Mt. Edgecumbe senior Charlee Korthuis said “I don’t really feel like a senior, even though we had senior night the other day. It didn’t feel real, I guess… Knowing that after this season ends, I won’t play volleyball for a high school team.”
“It’s kind of bittersweet. After four years of playing on this team coming to an end with a great group of girls,” Korthuis said.
Her teammate Mia Anderson felt both sad and accomplished.
“I was thinking back especially on senior night of all the girls I’ve gotten to play with and how much fun I’ve had this year. Kind of sad it’s ending but also it’s a great feeling of accomplishment,” Anderson said.
Virginia Nassuk, a senior from Koyuk, was happy to be a member of a supportive team.
“I feel really excited to play in varsity regions and all the girls are always encouraging and supportive,” she said.
Senior Annalyse Conforti seconded this.
“It’s been good to play with the girls. I was out for a while with an injury and they’ve been so supportive and encouraging and open, just making me feel welcome on the court… The girls are always lifting each other up and we’re always having a good time,” Conforti said.
Though 2021 was her first year on the Braves volleyball team, senior Lisa Strom, of Fort Yukon, had high praise for her team.
“This team has been the best sports team I’ve been on. The girls and the coaches make it so much fun. Our team chemistry, everyone gets along… I just enjoy being around them,” Strom said.
Looking back on senior night last week, she recalled a mixture of emotions.
“I was having mixed feelings, because I always remember watching from freshman year, watching other people’s senior night, and it was hard to believe it was my turn to be up there,” Strom said.
