JV, varsity volleyball teams play well in Petersburg

It was a great weekend for the Wrangell High School Lady Wolves volleyball teams as the junior varsity team beat Hoonah Varsity and Klawock JV, losing only to the Petersburg JV in two close games.

The JV team had a strong showing against the Vikings, winning one game but losing the match (25-14, 26-24). The varsity squad was able to pull out wins against Metlakatla (25-11, 25-17, 25-16) and Hoonah, while splitting with Craig.

“We had a pretty good JV run last weekend because we had some underclassmen step up and they worked hard, which worked to our advantage,” Whitaker said. “We also had a senior and junior who traveled for the JV team this week and they were able to bring some leadership skills and help the younger girls focus and get some wins.”

“The varsity matches started on Thursday with our game against Craig,” Whitaker said. “We weren’t able to pull off that game, but we were able to work on some things and were able to sweep Metlakatla directly after that game.

Friday’s match against Haines ended up going to five games – and the Lady Wolves were able to hold off the Lady Glacier Bears (25-17, 21-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-11.) Immediately following the Haines game, Wrangell was able to defeat Hoonah in three games (25-7, 25-9, 25-10.)

“Our girls were able to play those games well and give our second-string some playing time,” Whitaker added.

A loss to Klawock (25-9, 25-19) came late on Friday night, but Whitaker said the team was undeterred.

“It was a big boost for the team to play every team in the region and beat almost every one of them during the tournament,” Whitaker said. “It is a big morale booster for them to know that they can win against a lot of these teams. Now, we have to focus on beating Klawock in the future.”

On Saturday, the tournament went into round-robin play; with Wrangell taking a default win as the Haines varsity team departed the tournament early. The Lady Wolves also took on the Vikings on both Friday and Saturday, losing both matches on (25-22, 20-25, 25-18), (24-26, 25-13, 25-8) final scores.

The Lady Wolves will travel to Juneau this weekend and will return for their first home games against Craig Nov. 1-3.