Lady Wolves return from state tournament, and earthquake, in one piece

After a long and hard-fought season, the Lady Wolves came home for the last time this year. After taking second place in Regionals at Metlakatla last November, the high school volleyball team went to Anchorage last week to compete in the state championship. The competition at State was fierce, according to Coach Jessica Whitaker. While the team did not come out of the tournament victorious, she said that she was proud of how her team conducted itself.

The tournament opened on Thursday, Nov. 19. Wrangell played against Chevak, winning three straight sets in a row against them. They played against Mat-Su Valley next. Whitaker said the games were hard fought. The Lady Wolves won their first game, 25 to 16. Mat-Su Valley won the next three games, however: 21 to 25, 19 to 25, and 19 to 25 again. Mat-Su Valley took second place in the state tournament.

The loss bumped the Lady Wolves down to the

consolation bracket, Whitaker said, which was scheduled to play on Friday. On Friday morning however, there was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Anchorage. Whitaker said she and her team were all in their hotel rooms, sleeping in when the earthquake hit. They were not scheduled to play until later that afternoon. Whitaker said that nobody was hurt in the earthquake, fortunately. An aftershock took out the power to their hotel but that was the extent of the damage, she said. She, the team, and several parents all met up in the hotel's breakfast area to make sure they were all okay.

"Their phones were working. They're teenage girls, they're fine as long as their phones are working," Whitaker said with a laugh. "Overall, I think the girls handled it very well."

Because of the earthquake, the tournament was delayed until Saturday. The sets were shortened to best two out of three instead of best three out of five, Whitaker said, as they now had two days of games to play through in one day. The Lady Wolves went up against a combined team from Glennallen and Kenny Lake. Wrangell lost two games in a row to them, however, both at 12 to 25. Glennallen-Kenny Lake, which was in the consolation bracket because of a loss to Craig High School, went on to make a comeback and take first place in the state tournament, winning against Craig.

"I think, obviously, we would have liked to have performed a little better in state," Whitaker said. "But they played well overall."

Several members of

the Lady Wolves received individual recognitions at State. Jay Balansag and Tasha Massin won sportsmanship awards. Kaylyn Easterly won a player of the game award in the set against Mat-Su Valley. Ashley Allen won a player of the game award in the set against Glennallen-Kenny Lake. Helen Decker won a player of the game award in the set against Chevak, the all-academic award, and was also named to the state all tournament team.