Wrangell’s volleyball team placed second at the Southeast regional tournament in Skagway last weekend and will compete for the state Division 2A championship Dec. 4-6 in Anchorage.

The team went undefeated in the regular season with a 14-0 record, earning first seed at the Southeast tournament Nov. 19-22 in Skagway, where they had a bye the first day.

Hoonah started the first day of the tournament by defeating the Skagway Panthers in four sets.

Quickly following was a major upset with seventh-seeded Haines beating second-seeded Petersburg in five sets. The final match of the first night was Craig versus Metlakatla, the Miss Chiefs earning their first of many wins in the tournament in four sets.

The next morning started with the first game of the losers bracket, the Petersburg Vikings going against the Craig Panthers. Craig lost in the four-set match.

Next up was Wrangell's big debut for the tournament, facing the Hoonah Braves. The first set was close, with a lot of back-and-forth scoring, but the Wolves came out on top 25-23.

Both teams came out strong in the second set, with the game pretty even until Wrangell’s lead hitter Alana Harrison went down with an ankle injury; freshman AJ Roundtree stepped in for her. The team was a bit frazzled and lost the next two sets.

Harrison pushed through the adversity and came back in in the fourth set, knowing her team needed her. The Lady Wolves won the next two sets, moving into the semi-finals.

Following Wrangell’s win, Metlakatla played against the Haines Glacier Bears, with Metlakatla winning in four sets to move into the semis to take on Wrangell.

The Hoonah Braves beat Petersburg in five sets, followed by Skagway beating Haines in the first three-set match of the best-of-five-set tournament.

The final day of the tournament began with Hoonah playing against Skagway, seeing who would move on and who would go home. The Braves pulled through and came out on top in four sets.

Next up were the semifinals with previous champions, Wrangell, against the previous second-place Metlakatla.

With a couple great plays from both teams, it was clear this was going to be a close match. The Chiefs won the first set, 25-18. Then Wrangell stormed back and won the second set 25-14, pushing that same energy into the next set and a 25-15 win.

The Wolves were up in sets 2-1, needing just one more set to move on to the championship game. Whichever team lost the series would have to face the Hoonah Braves to play their way back into the championship game.

Metlakatla won the next set by four points, forcing a fifth set to 15 points. The Miss Chiefs won, 15-9, earning them a break while the Wolves had to play right after against the Hoonah Braves.

Wrangell beat them in three sets, 25-23 in the first, the same score in the second, and 25-16 in the third, earning the squad another chance against Metlakatla for the championship.

The Wolves had a 25-minute break to refuel before the final showdown, having been playing for the past four hours. Players were exhausted from playing so long, put down from taking their first loss of the season and anxious for what was to come.

Wrangell took the first set 25-22 before Metlakatla fought back and won the second 25-14.

The Wolves earned the first points of the next set with a kill by Harrison, two aces by Christina Johnson, and a couple errors by their opponents. But then Wrangell made a couple errors — hitting into the net or not quite picking up digs — Metlakatla picked up some traction.

The score was tied at 7-7 when Wrangell called its first timeout. The scoring continued tight until the Chiefs came out ahead, 25-21.

Metlakatla won the first-place trophy by taking the final set 25-16, with Wrangell taking second place.

Awards were given out after the final game. All seniors who had earned at least a 3.0 grade point average in their high school career earned an All-Academic Award, which was given to both of Wrangell’s varsity seniors, Johnson and Paige Hoyt.

The Good Sportsmanship Award went to Hoyt and Natalia Ashton.

Each team was given two All-Conference Medals, earned by Johnson and Harrison.

A passing-and-serving competition was held Thursday night, and Wrangell’s Sophia Martinsen was named serving champion.

The Lady Wolves are excited for their chance to go after the state title in Anchorage on Dec. 4-6. They will face off against the Sandpoint Eagles at 1:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Dec. 4. The meet will be livestreamed on NFHS Network.