Alyssa Allen goes for the serve against Klawock last week in Metlakatla during the annual Jamboree tournament.
The Lady Wolves volleyball team traveled to Metlakatla last weekend to begin their season – and take part in the annual Jamboree held in Southeast.
With two days of volleyball to play, the Lady Wolves wasted no time getting started as they began the tournament as the first team up to play.
The varsity team went 3-2 overall in the tournament, losing only to a Klawock squad who defeated them once (25-8, 22-25, 15-4) in the opening matches, and again in the final match of the weekend (25-13, 25-19, 25-21.)
Head coach Jessica Whitaker said playing the opening and closing games tested the mettle and ability of the team to overcome adversity compared to the experience of the 2011 team.
“We had a long trip to get there and we ended up being the first game and the last game to play on our first night, so the girls were tested on their endurance,” Whitaker said. “We spent a lot of time earlier in the season on conditioning for something like this because last year we would go in and play just one game in the evening, but this year we knew it would be different.”
The Lady Wolves were victorious, however, in their opening matches against three teams, beating Craig (25-20, 21-25, 15-11,) Metlakatla (25-11, 25-12, 15-3,) and Kayhi (26-24, 25-17, 15-3) to make it to the finals against Klawock.
“The girls really stepped up during our opening games and were able to communicate well and figure out both our movement and the movement of the other teams,” Whitaker added. “There were just a few times this weekend where the girls let a run get away from them in the very beginning, even though they came back to win it. That is something we also have to work on.”
Overall, Whitaker highlighted her seniors and other players for their contribution in the season opener.
“We really stepped up against the other teams and gave a lot of blocks,” she said. “McKenna Harding and Kacie Galla had quite a few blocks, along with Tori Gulla who had a few. Alyssa Allen was doing very well at the outset, as was Shayna Schultz. I have four seniors on the varsity team and two on the junior varsity team, and each one of them showed their leadership on the court. They all went out and were very aggressive from the beginning.”
The Lady Wolves will be at home this week as they host the Lady Vikings of Petersburg on Thursday and Friday. The action starts at 6 p.m. with junior varsity play with the varsity game to follow.
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