Lady Wolves place fourth in state tournament

An early loss against Chugiak's Birchwood Christian School at the state championship volleyball tournament threw the Lady Wolves off their game, and though they fought hard in the losers' bracket, the Metlakatla MissChiefs took them out of the running in the third round of play.

Wrangell finished fourth overall in the tournament, held Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 in Palmer.

Metlakatla took home third place in the high school tourney.

After a first-round win against Glennallen, three sets to one, the Wolves advanced to play the eventual first-place finisher, Birchwood, later that day. Though Wrangell played hard, Birchwood's hitter "went lights-out against us," said co-coach Brian Herman, who led the Lady Wolves this season alongside Shelley Powers.

"We scored the same amount of points that they did," he continued, "we just have to put the points in the right order. Two less errors, and we would have been out of that thing in two straight sets."

The Wolves struggled to regain momentum after the tough, early tournament loss. "We felt that we were in it the whole time, (but) after losing a really close match like that, it kind of popped our balloon a little bit," said Herman.

The team fought hard for a spot in the semi-finals, beating Tri-Valley three sets to one on Dec. 1. However, a loss against the MissChiefs later that day- the Metlakatla squad won all three sets - ended Wrangell's championship hopes.

In Herman's opinion, much of the team's struggles were mental, as they fought to "keep (their) foot on the gas" throughout challenging matches. But despite their losses, the Lady Wolves' technique remained strong, particularly their passing, defense and serving.

"We were serving teams off the court," said Herman.

Two players, Aubrey Wynne and Christina Johnson, made the all-tournament team and Christina was also named best setter.

The tournament also gave the team's two seniors, Kayla and Mindy Meissner, a chance to shine. Mindy was on the court for nearly the entire tournament and Kayla "played the best that she has all season long," said Herman.

Since the vast majority of the Lady Wolves are underclassmen, Herman anticipates that the team's most competitive seasons are still ahead. "We've got a lot of returning players next year, so we're just going to get better and better," he said.

Wynne, a junior, and Johnson, a sophomore, jostle for the lead in most of the team's statistics: Wynne has the highest hitting percentage and Johnson has the most aces per set. Freshman Alana Harrison is also working her way up the Lady Wolves leaderboard with the most successful blocks in the tournament.

Thanks to travel troubles, the season was "full of challenges," said Herman. The girls often had to miss matches due to weather-related flight delays. But "for the girls to do what they did with the limited amount of competition they had, to be competitive at the state level is amazing. ... The whole team is super competitive and they (want) to win."