Sports : MOOSE SPIKED - Frontiersman

Sports : MOOSE SPIKED - Frontiersman

By Micah Villanueva
For the Frontiersman
Published on Friday, October 1, 2010 4:08 AM AKDT

PALMER — Coming off a solid fourth-place finish at the West High Spectacular, it would seem the Palmer Moose had all the momentum coming into Thursday night’s match against Cook Inlet Conference powerhouse Chugiak. Unfortunately for the Moose, that wasn’t the case.

In a non-conference match-up at Palmer High, the Chugiak Mustangs defeated the Palmer Moose 3-1(25-19, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18), rolling to a victory over the defending Northern Lights Conference champions.Chugiak improved to 13-4 overall on the season, while the Moose dropped only their second regular season loss of the season.

Chugiak dominated the match defensively, countering each Palmer attack with a disciplined and tight formation, which would lead into devastating hits by the Mustangs’ Laila Hansen, who led all players with 12 kills. Palmer, who faced a similar attack last week against Wasilla, simply had no answer.

“We’re still working on our overall game,” Palmer head coach Steve Reynolds said. “Serve, receive, passing.”

The Moose started strong, beginning the first game with a 4-0 spurt. But from there, things started to roll downhill.

Chugiak capitalized on Palmer mistakes, scoring points at ease on the Moose, and they carried that momentum through the first game and into the second.

But the Moose wouldn’t give up without a fight.Trailing 5-4 in the second game, Palmer went on a 13-2 run to take a lead they would never relinquish in that second set. At that point, Chugiak put its foot down. Through the hard hitting of Hansen, the Mustangs dispatched the Moose in the next two games, taking the match.

“We did well at making plays come together,” Palmer senior outside hitter Kendal Venzke said. “There were just lapses on the serve-receive that made it difficult for the offense.”

Despite the loss, the Moose are not too concerned as they head into this weekend’s NLC matches on the Kenai Peninsula.

“It’s early in the season, so we’re still working on our offense,” Reynolds said. “We’re not too concerned about who we’re playing and what they are doing.”

Still, Palmer has a bit riding on its upcoming matches, contests that will help determine where the Moose sit in the NLC standings.“We have to work on shortening our lapses … and pushing through to the end,” Venzke said, referencing the mid-match collapse.