December 12, 2009

Stanford Trip

Ok, I don't even know where to begin.

Lets start at the begining. I am in California, about 3 miles away from Stanford University. I came down here with my mom to see Stanford play in thier regional tournament. Out of 64 teams, they were in the final 8. Unfortunetly, Friday night they lost to Michigan. It was a fantastic game though and I took lots of pictures. They are posted on the blog, check them out!

So Saturday night we went and watched the championship game. Hawaii vs. Michigan, well during the intermission, I went over with my "Alaska Loves Stanford" sign and SAT NEXT TO JOHN DUNNING! Yeah thats right, I went right up to the Stanford coach and said "Hello, I was wondering if you would sign my sign?" Well he did and my mom and I talked to him for a bit. Turns out the guy has been to Palmer before. I felt a bit like Kasara getting an autograph from the UAA girls. :) Well after that I didn't concentrate on the game as much but Hawaii won in 3. They are moving on to play Penn State in the final 4.

November 15, 2009

Banquet

The volleyball banquet is this Wednesday (11-18-09) at 6:30. It is a potluck so everyone is required to bring a main dish. See you then!!

November 10, 2009

Frontiersman's Athlete of the Week!


Prep STUDENT-ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Nicole Cherrier

Published on Monday, November 9, 2009 8:35 PM AKST

Palmer High School senior Nicole Cherrier has been named the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman Prep Student-Athlete of the Week.

Cherrier posted 13 kills to lead the Palmer Moose to a 3-1 win over the Colony Knights during the Northern Lights Conference Championships volleyball tournament at Wasilla High School on Saturday.

Cherrier, a Palmer co-captain, was also named first-team All-NorthernLights Conference following the tournament.

Cherrier has been Palmer’s unquestioned offensive leader as the Moose rebounded from early-season struggles and captured the conference title.

“She’s come a long way,” Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said. “Even in the last two years, she’s just improved immensely.”

The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman congratulates Cherrier on her

success.

Frontiersman Picture

Straight from the Frontiersman:

Set for state
By Jeremiah Bartz
Frontiersman
Published on Monday, November 9, 2009 8:35 PM AKST

PALMER — While the Palmer Moose will know a bit about their first-round opponent, Colony’s draw will be somewhat of a mystery when both Mat-Su teams hit the court for the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Volleyball Championships at West Anchorage High School on Thursday.

The Moose, who beat Colony 3-1 in the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Wasilla High School last Saturday, face Dimond Thursday at 7:15 p.m.

Colony meets Southeast Conference champion Juneau-Douglas Thursday at 2 p.m.

It’s been only about two weeks since Dimond handed a 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-23) loss. Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said the familiarity is nice, but regardless of how well a team knows its opponent, the players still have to execute.

“You still have to come out and perform,” Reynolds said. “You can have all the game plans in the world, but you still have to execute.”

Palmer played Dimond (14-4 overall, 11-3 in the Cook Inlet Conference) tough during the regular-season meeting. The Moose took the first set 25-17, and came within two points of forcing a fifth game. Reynolds said he feels there’s certainly room for improvement.

“It wasn’t one of our best outings,” Reynolds said.

But take away that loss, and Reynolds can see a very successful second half of the 2009 season. After early-season struggles, and a stretch of matches that includes losses to Valley rivals Colony and Wasilla, the Moose surged.

The Moose steadily improved, and climbed into the second spot of the NLC North with wins over the Knights and Warriors.

Palmer also beat West Valley and Chugiak late in the season. West Valley is the Mid-Alaska Conference champion and Chugiak won the CIC.

Even after the Dimond loss, Reynolds said he wanted to stress to his players that they deserved to be on the same court as the top squads in the state.

“I wanted them to know they’re certainly capable,” Reynolds said. “They don’t have to play out of their minds to beat the top teams in the state.”

When Colony takes the court against Juneau, the Knights won’t know much about the Bears. But head coach Amy Carter knows Juneau is typically one of the better teams in the state every year.

“Juneau is always good,” Carter said.

Other than that, the Knight will be going in fresh.

Juneau did finish 10-2 overall and 6-0 in the Southest Conference, according to ASAA.

The Bears had to rebound in the double-elimination Region V Volleyball Championships at Mt. Edgecumbe High School last weekend.

The Bears fell to Ketchikan 3-2 in the first round of the Region V tourney, according to the Juneau Empire. But thanks to the unique format of the tourney, Juneau could use wins in consecutive matches to earn Region V’s lone berth to the state tourney.

Carter said the Knights usually see the Bears at some point during the seasons, but their paths did not cross this year. But without any preconceived notions coming in, Carter said it may benefit a Colony squad that has only two players with significant state tourney experience.

In addition to NLC rivals Palmer and Soldotna, Colony has also seen West Valley, Chugiak, Dimond and South this season.

The Knights swept West Valley in the Interior and played each of the Anchorage schools during regular-season tournaments.

Overall, like Reynolds, Carter is proud of the steady improvement of her team this season.

“I’m very pleased with where my team’s at,” Carter said. “especially when compared to where we were at in the beginning of the year.”

The steady progression of each program led to a meeting in the NLC final.

It marked the fourth time since 2003 that Palmer and Colony had met for the conference crown. The rivals also met in the 2003, 2004 and 2007 title matches. Palmer beat Colony 3-2 in 2003 and 2007. Colony swept Palmer 3-0 to win the 2004 NLC championship.

Palmer’s win on Saturday also marked the seventh straight season that Palmer or Colony had won the region title. Palmer won the championship in 2003, 2007 and 2009. Colony finished first in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008.

This season also marks Palmer’s ninth trip to the state tourney in the last 10 years. Colony has advanced to the state event in each of the last seven seasons.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Club Volleyball


Club season is right around the corner. Tryouts are November 15th at Mirror Lake Middle School.
click here for the flier. Or you can visit the AVA Website to get all the information you might need. AVA is working hard on recruiting the best coaching staff around so you will be sure to get a great coach no matter which team you're on.

Remember- You'll only get as much out of it as you put in. If you go in thinking, I'm going to improve no matter what, you'll generally improve. If you go into club season thinking, well my coach is crap I didn't have much fun last year, then that's what you'll get out of it. It is all about you and the effort you're willing to put in.

November 9, 2009

State Bracket


If you want to take a look at the state bracket Click Here Palmer plays Dimond in the first round and then South or West Valley second.

November 8, 2009

Pictures from the Frontiersman - Regions


















Sports : Moose work way to top - Frontiersman

Sports : Moose work way to top - Frontiersman

Posted using ShareThis

By Jeremiah BartzFrontiersmanPublished on Saturday, November 7, 2009 10:46 PM AKST

WASILLA — The 2009 season has been a work in progress for the Palmer Moose.Throughout early-season struggles and mid-season slumps, Palmer continued to work. And on Saturday, the Moose showed their progress.Palmer scored a 3-1 (25-27, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21) win over Valley rival Colony in the title match of the Northern Lights Conference Championships volleyball tournament at Wasilla High School.





“We were a really new team at the beginning and we struggled. But throughout the year we just came together, and we did it,” Palmer senior Nicole Cherrier said after the match. “I’m just really proud of my team.”

The Moose rebounded from a tight, two-point loss in the first game of the match, and won the following three sets to capture Palmer’s second NLC title in three years and third since 2003.

Winning in that fashion was appropriate for a Moose squad that found itself losing early in the season, but gaining confidence and momentum as the year went on.

“It took a while for things to come together. We spent at least half of the season figuring things out,” Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said. “We lost a bunch in the early-going, people were frustrated.”

Palmer led by as many as four points early in the first set of the match, and three points late, but Colony used a late rally to win the first game 27-25.

That first-set win could have set the tone for the Knights, but the Moose muscled back. “Everybody has ups and downs, it’s just a matter of how you bring it back up in the next game,” Palmer senior Brittany Arlow said.

And with a balanced attack on offense and Arlow leading the way on the defensive side of the floor, the Moose were able to steadily march to the title.

“They play real well as a team,” Colony head coach Amy Carter said. “They just played steady the whole match and kept to their game plan.”

Cherrier led the Moose with 13 kills in the game. Junior Kendal Venzke added 11 and senior Mallory Manier chipped in eight.Sophomores Jenna Arlow and Morgan Morfe combined for 12 kills in the win.

“We got real good production for all of our hitters,” Reynolds said. “It was a real nice balance.”

Brittany Arlow led the Moose defensively with 19 digs. Senior Jaimi Cox stood out in front of the net, with a season-high six total blocks.

Led by the likes of Cherrier, Venzke and Manier, Palmer was able to build significant leads in every game of the match.

Palmer led by as much as eight points in the second game, seven in the third and five in the fourth. But in every game, the Knights chewed into the advantage.“I was real proud of the girls for fighting back every time,” Carter said. Senior Siobhan Johansen, who was named the most valuable player of the NLC North following the tourney, led Colony with 32 assists and five blocks. Senior Sierra Hodgson posted a match-high 14 kills. Shellina Irwin added nine kills and Brittany Brown added eight. Katie Gonski led CHS with 18 digs.

Palmer’s third title in seven years also marked the third meeting between the Moose and the Knights in the past six NLC championship matches. Palmer and Colony also met in the 2004 and 2007 conference title matches. Palmer edged Colony 3-2 in 2007 and the Knights swept the Moose 2-0 in 2004.This also marks the seventh straight season that either Palmer or Colony has won the NLC title. The Knights won the conference tournament in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008.Skyview was the last non-Palmer area team to win a NLC volleyball title, scoring a 3-2 win over Palmer in 2007.

The Moose and Knights also earned automatic berths to the upcoming ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships. Palmer is headed to state for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.Soldotna earned the final NLC berth with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-21) win over Kodiak in the third-place match Saturday afternoon. That contest was actually a rematch of a first-round meeting. On Thursday, fourth-seeded Kodiak upset top-ranked Soldotna, the conference’s lone undefeated team during the regular season, 3-1.After a 3-0 loss to Palmer in the semifinals Friday, Kodiak pulled off another upset Saturday, beating host Wasilla 3-1 in the 9 a.m. match.

The Warriors were eliminated from tourney play with the 3-1 (25-17, 25-16, 17-25, 26-24) loss.Soldotna moved into the third-place match with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-21) win over Kenai and 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-13) victory over Skyview.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

All-Northern LightsConference
NLC North MVP: Siobhan Johansen, Colony
NLC South MVP: Shana Powell, Soldotna
Coach of the Year: Bruce King, Soldotna

First-team All-NLC:Sierra Hodgson, Colony; Jaxon HIll, Skyview; Nicole Cherrier, Palmer; Emily Rohloff, Soldotna; Mara Yatsik, Kodiak; Mariah Huhndorf, Kenai; Brittany Arlow, Palmer; Aryn Crane, Wasilla.

Second-team All-NLC:Jessie Erickson, Homer; Emily Horn, Kodiak; Sariah Tuisaula, Wasilla; Casee Penrod, Skyview; Jenna Arlow, Palmer; Mariah Hamilton, Soldotna; Monica Hutchinson, Skyview; Lexi Beeson, Kenai.

Good sport team:Gaynor Johansen, Colony; Carla Muller, Homer; Lierin Flanagan, Kenai; Karly Sternberg, Kodiak; Danielle Pempek, Palmer; Jaci Lamborn, Skyview; Jasmine Woodland, Soldotna; Kaitlin Pevan, Wasilla.

November 2, 2009

Fruit & Sleep

Regions begins in only a few days and I'd just like to take a moment to discuss your eating/sleeping habits :) You may not believe me when I say this, but what you eat and how much sleep you get is going to impact your performance.. If you want to get the absolute most out of your body I would recommend getting plenty of sleep all week and eat decent meals. Sugary stuff might give you lots of energy but in the end its going to slow you down. You're welcome to do as you please, but if you want to play your absolute best, fruits and sleep will help you tremendously.

October 23, 2009

Big Varsity Win Over Chugiak

I didn't stay for the varsity game last night, so I don't have a lot of details but here is what I know:

Varsity won in 4 games. They lost the first but took care of business the next 3 games. I know that Jenna played a ball off the top of her head when the score was 25-25 and the team stuck with it and sent the ball back over and ended up winning the point.

What else do I know?
I know that Chugiak is a very good school. They beat South in 3 last week and that's not easy to do.

So I'd have to say well done!!

C-TEAM BRINGS HOME TROPHY!

Wednesday night was a big night for the c-team, after a 2 day pool play, they went in and beat Houston right away. Then they fought off a #3 ranked ACS team and beat them in 2. This put them into the championship game against a really tough Grace team. Palmer won the first, lost the second and they went into a third game Palmer winning the serve. Great serving led by Megin, Kristen V, and Miranda gave them a large lead and Grace could never recover. Palmer won the championship for the second year in a row.

Kristen V. had an excellent day and tournament. Jaime played great as well, she had a dig that was called "the dig of all times" by a watching volleyball coach. (it wasn't steve, bryce or myself). Shanara had the play of the week when she took off after a shanked ball and was able to send it back on to the other which was well over 35 feet away.

Miranda and Megin were both on the all tournament team, good job girls!

I am hoping to get a few pictures of the cteam tourney, if you have any you'd like to share, please email them to me. I'll try and post a few later today.

October 22, 2009

JV TEAM BRINGS HOME TROPHY!!

Yep that's right, the JV team won their end of season tournament at Wasilla High School last night after defeating Wasilla on their home court.

First Palmer beat Grace in 2 games. Then the battled through a very strong ACS team and won in 3. The Wasilla game started great and the team worked hard the whole way through. Kellie had a very nice pancake after practicing in warmups. Sarah Scorsby was owning the net the entire day. Lily passed nearly perfect all night. She stepped up in a real big way. I'm sure Anna was appreciative. Anna put up nice set after nice set. Jessica has become a fan of the back-armed tip. Devynn was playing outstanding defense and Taylor served them off the court. KaLene and Kasara both played great and made the all tournament team. Those were just some of the highlights, the team played great all day and really earned their trophy. Although- with a team full of clutch players, what else could you expect?

Pictures will follow. Be patient it will probably be later today, check back around 1:00

October 18, 2009

Skyview/Homer Recaps

Not much to say. Friday night was rough for all 3 teams. Each team gave up to many easy points and unfortunately Skyview got the better of us.

Saturday morning was a bit better. All three teams came out ready to fight and took out Homer in just a few short hours. We were back on the bus in no time and headed home.

Tomorrow is the JV and c-team end of season tournaments. JV is at Wasilla High School and C-Team is at Colony High school. I hope both teams come ready to play.

October 15, 2009

Peninsula Trip

Since Kasara loves it when I keep the blog updated, I will post a little something this morning...

We are going on our one and only road trip this year and here are the details:

We leave PHS at 8:30am Friday morning.
We will be on a regular bus with 30 girls and 3 coaches plus everyone's bags and sleeping bags and pillows. This means we will be crowded so PACK LIGHT!!! We will get to Kenai mid afternoon and we'll stop for lunch. Then we will go to the school and win 3 matches bam bam bam and probably get back on the bus and go to Homer. Then sleep on the hard classroom floor and get up the next day, win 3 more matches get back on the bus and head home. We won't be home until late Saturday night. If you want to ride home with your parents you are more than welcome to.

What should you bring? ONLY THE ESSENTIALS!!!
Both jerseys
Spandex
Both Shoes
Both Kneepads
Both Ankle braces
Coat
Sweats
toothbrush
toothpaste
hairties
Pillow
Sleeping bag
catch phrase
Money - enough for 4 meals... if you pack snacks then you can get away with less money $20-$40 go with $40 if you are planning on buying all your food.

I am sure there are some things I'm forgetting but if If I think of something I'll add it later. Please don't rely on my list, make your own, this is just some ideas.

Pack light, Wear your coat and sweats on the bus, it usually gets pretty cold. If you must shower, you'll want to bring a towel and other shower essentials, I would encourage you to pass on showering :) haha, unless you stink, then go ahead and shower, but if you don't shower on a regular basis anyway (you know who you are), don't start now.
You really won't need jeans or real clothes of any kind, you can wear your sweats everywhere we go. You won't need more than 1 pair of shoes besides your volleyball shoes.

October 14, 2009

Colony Recap

So last night had its started out on a not so good note with C-Team and JV both losing in 3.

In the C-Team game, Miranda was putting up some very nice sets and both Jaime and Megin were putting the ball away. Palmer fought pretty hard for it, but a couple of dropped balls later and Colony had taken the third game.

The JV game started out slow but things livened up in the second game. Sarah decided it was about time she owned the net and Colony had a tough time getting past her block. Lily was making some very nice passes all night and in the third game Anna put up a perfect outside set to KaLene who crushed the ball. In the end, just like C-Team, JV couldn't finish out the game and ended up with a loss. Both teams will play Colony again next week in their end of season tournaments and Colony isn't going to know what hit them. We were just joking, they haven't seen us bring out A game yet.

Varsity was a completely different story. After coming off a Wasilla win, and the big win at the Grace Invitational, the varsity looks like a seriously legit team. They took care of Colony without hesitation. They fought for every point no matter if they were leading or not. Kendal, Nicole and Mallory were getting kills left and right, some of their success must be attributed to the setting which was great. Well I could go on and on, but I'm out of time. Great job girls! Keep working hard for every point this season and things will keep working out for you.

October 12, 2009

Grace Invitational

Varsity won the Grace Invitational Volleyball Tournament this weekend. I went in and watched a bit of it. The girls came off the win from Wasilla and carried their new "they aren't going to score on me" attitude into the tournament. Once again a huge team effort went into the win. It could not have been done without 11 girls and 6 coaches all working together haha. I wasn't able to stay for the championship game but I hear it was a good one. Palmer won in 3. Palmer won the first, lost the second and took control of the third. Winning play: Perfect pass by Brittany, beautiful "1" jump set, and BAM big hit into area 5 by Nicole.

MVP of the tournament was our very own Brittany Arlow.
All tournament team members included our very own Nicole Cherrier and Jenna Arlow.

Good job to the whole team.

Wasilla Game Recap

What a wonderful set of matches to watch on Thursday. All three teams brought back wins over Wasilla.

C-team set the standard pretty high by winning in 2. The second game they really took care of business and won 25-10.

JV lost their first game however the second and third games of the match were the best I’ve ever seen them play. The second game they matched c-team and won 25-10 and the third game they took a commanding lead and never looked back, the final score was 15-3. Anna played a big part serving 18 serves in the match with 4 aces and no errors. (all with a nice medium tough floater I must add.)

So with C-team and JV matches already settled, it was varsity’s turn to take the floor. Varsity started strong in game one but let Wasilla back in to win the game. Palmer came out with a new attitude that game and won the following 3 to take the match. The 4th game was a commanding 25-13 win. There was a new attitude amongst the varsity team that I haven’t seen there since the last year we won regions. Each player it seemed had taken the first game’s loss personally. Everyone was committed to winning and taking out the other team. Morgan was heard saying “I can totally take her!!” when talking about Wasilla’s big middle hitting at her. From that point out she made that middle work really hard if she wanted to score and I would say Morgan won that round. Danielle played truly great defense and helped contribute to the win even though she decided she’d rather duck than dig one of those hits. Just kidding Danielle. Mallory was heard saying “how dare they call that ball up! I hit it straight down!” She did hit the ball with some serious authority during that Match.

All three teams played some truly great volleyball. C-team just plain took care of business. JV played the best defense I’ve ever seen them play. Varsity completely changed their mindset into a kick butt mentality and that showed in their skills. Great game girls!

Last thing I have to say is an overall compliment to every team. I think I watched the most unselfish volleyball I’ve seen in a very long time. Every girl worked really hard on taking care of the ball to get it into the next player’s hands. Defense was great on every team. Each person was committed to making a pass before they tried to run off and set or hit. “Take care of the pass” as Steve would say, then worry about the next step. When someone got a perfect set however, all teams decided to hit with authority and trusted their team enough to know that if a mistake happened they would just move on to the next play. I loved all the games! Truly great!!

October 11, 2009

Alright so apparently people actually do read the blog, I wasn't so sure until I started receiving complaints that I haven't updated it, so here goes.

Varsity won the Grace Invitational this weekend! haha, that's all I got. I'll write a full recap tomorrow. Off to play rockband!

September 7, 2009

Palmer at Houston

Just a reminder: The bus to Houston High School leaves at 2:30 tomorrow. Everyone meet up downstairs (near the pool). It is not required to ride the bus but if you want to, be ready to go by 2:20.

There is a bus going back to the school for anyone who wants to ride. It wont come back until the varsity is done playing though.
"Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game."
Michael Jordan




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