Sports : Moose spike rival Knights - Frontiersman

Sports : Moose spike rival Knights - Frontiersman

Moose spike rival Knights

BY TIM ROCKEY
For the Frontiersman
Published on Friday, September 17, 2010 12:33 AM AKDT

PALMER — The Palmer Moose used a variety of weapons to wear down Colony and improve to 4-0 in Northern Lights Conference play with a 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-14, 25-20) win over the Knights at Palmer High School on Tuesday.

Palmer underclassmen Lilly Cullers sent the Moose on one of their bigger momentum swings of the match, serving for nine straight points during the win over their rival.

“She was clutch,” Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said. “She was serving with pinpoint accuracy. She was hitting all her spots. I havn’t seen that out of her yet.” Cullers picked up two aces on three concecutive short serves to the Colony front row. To get the home crowd excited, Palmer’s Rebecca Stella made an outstanding diving hustle play to keep the streak alive.

Mary Klapperich ended the run with a powerful block. Klapperich finished with a team-high 12 kills. Klapperich and fellow sophomore twin tower Allison Leigh teamed for five blocks, wreaking havoc for Moose hitters throughout the match.

After losing the second game, Colony bounced back strong in the third set.

Colony senior Shellina Irwin used a unique underhand serve for a streak of three points during the final game. Irwin, who typically hits the ball with a high velocity, sported sort of an ironic twist to her game with the underhanded attempts. Reynolds said, overall, a key was containing the Colony senior.

“She plays great defense,” Reynolds said. “We want to keep the ball away from her.”

Irwin, Leigh and Klapperich weren’t enough for the Knights though. After catching the Moose off balance in the first game, Palmer slowly got back on track. After battling through a tough second set, Palmer found it’s rhythm.

Junior Morgan Morfe helped spark that momentum with five of her team-high 13 kills in the third game. Morfe wasn’t the only Moose player in on the action. Palmer setter Jenna Arlow spread the wealth around, finishing with 28 assists in the win.

Five Moose had at least four kills in the victory.

The Moose stay undefeated with the win, but Reynolds stressed the need to continue to improve.

“We have Wasilla coming up, and the West Spiketacular,” Reynolds said. “We’ll get a lot of work on the whole team thing. We have so much to prepare for, so much stuff to work on,”

The Knights fell to 1-3 with the loss.

“We’re struggling at this point, so we’re hoping tonight is the turnaround point,” Colony head coach Amy Carter said.

Colony served well, picking up four aces spread throughout the team during the game, but just like during its loss to Wasilla last week, unforced errors led to the Knights’ downfall.

Colony will try to rebound tonight against Chugiak. The Knights host the Mustangs at 4:30 p.m. at CHS.


Tim Rockey is a senior at Palmer High School and contributes to the Mat-Su Valley schools and sports sections.