Varsity Volleyball
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The varsity Lady Bucs continued their winning streak this weekend with taking first place at our annual Valdez Invite. The girls played each of the nine other teams, one set to 25 in pool play on Friday to determine standings for the gold and silver bracket. They played great on Friday going 8-1, only losing to Lathrop. This seeded them second going into the Gold Bracket for Saturday.
They kicked Saturday morning off going 4-0 and placing them as the number one team going into the championship. It was great to see the support from the community and student body at the match. The championship game was a great rematch against Lathrop. It was best 2 out of 3 and the teams were point for point each set, but Valdez came out on top for the second week in a row. I am beyond proud of the way the girls played and worked as a team during this tournament. This weekend the girls have a well-deserved weekend off. September 23-24 we will be hosting the Monroe Rams for our second weekend of conference games of the season.
MVP- Defensive
Kelsey Prax
MVP- Setter
Destiny Day
All-Tournament Team
Masen Holmes
Momoe Togagae
Peyton Wade
Match Scores
Friday
VS. Bethel 25-5
VS. Eielson 25-11
VS. Lathrop 13-25
VS. Redington 25-9
VS. North Pole 25-17
VS. Delta 25-9
VS. Seward 25-22
VS. Barrow 25-11
VS. Houston 25-14
Saturday
VS. North Pole 26-24
VS. Lathrop 25-15
VS. Eielson 25-12
VS. Barrow 25-10
Championship Match VS. Lathrop
22-25
25-22
15-7
Bucs celebrate a big block.
Olivia Selanoff with a pass.
Moe Togague
Masen Holmes with a tip.
Kelsey Prax with an outside hit.
J.V. Volleyball
Valdez JV Volleyball Invite
Sep 9, 2022
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – This past weekend Valdez hosted 19 volleyball teams (10 varsity and 9 JV) for the annual Valdez Volleyball Invite Tournament. Friday was back to back with single sets to 25, giving every player on the team an opportunity to be on the court applying their skills at game speed. The team smoked Delta and Bethel, but struggled with consistency and communication in their other pool-play sets. After the first day, the girls were placed in the Silver Bracket for our Saturday portion of the tournament. On Saturday the Bucs, again, came out strong in the first set against Bethel taking the first win on the day, but early in the second set against Redington balls started dropping on our side without any talk on the court. Though the girls tried to dig their way out of the hole, Redington sealed the game with a win for them. Our last set for the morning was against Delta and the Bucs took and maintained an early lead and win, placing them in the championship game for the Silver Division of the tournament.
The final championship match (best of three) was just what you want to see– both teams exchanging point for point and working hard to keep the volley going on their side. Valdez and Redington pushed point for point in the first set with Redington finally winning at 24-26. In the second set the Bucs came out strong and won 25-15. They kept their momentum into the 3rd and final set to 15, with a final victory of 15-11.
All-tournament players:
Marcedes Taylor
Jazlyn Galletin
Sydney Cronk
Great work, Bucs!
Swimming
Wasilla Invite
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The flood advisory by the National Weather Service didn’t stop the Buc Swimmers from attending the Wasilla Invite. Six Valdez athletes competed with the 4A teams of Wasilla, Palmer, and Colony. As you may conclude, we were tiny in comparison to those teams, however, each Valdez swimmer contributed points for the events in which they swam.
This weekend was notable because of all the “firsts”. Each swimmer selected an individual event that they’ve either never swam before or haven’t swam in several years. Accolades to Rhain Osburn, Sophia Hodgkins, and Ginger Keller for taking on the challenge of the 500 Freestyle, placing 5th, 6th, and 7th respectively. Gray Odencrans aimed for the 100 Fly and 50 Free, finishing 6th out of 14 in the 50 Free. Fisher Mishmash stepped out of his comfort zone with an event typically swam by his sister, taking 1st place in the men’s 100 yard Breaststroke. Kinsey Mishmash placed 5th in her 100 Backstroke.
Out of 7 relay teams, the Valdez girls 200 yard Medley relay team held solid with a 4th place finish, and a 3rd place finish in their 200 Freestyle relay. The relay team consists of Seniors, Sophia Hodgkins and Ginger Keller; Junior, Rhain Osburn; and Sophomore, Kinsey Mishmash.
The Buccaneer swimmers remain home for the next several weeks. Come cheer them on for their only Home meet, September 23 and 24th.
Cross-Country
George Plumley Invite (Palmer)
September 10, 2022
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Bucs Cross-Country team was greeted with more rain in Palmer Friday night. It was a soggy one lap jog around the 3 lap course. Spirits were high as the runners appreciated the smaller hills compared to our training run on the pass this week. Saturday morning, the team appreciated the clearing skies and watching the mass of runners in the open races that started earlier in the day. This is the biggest race event of the season with over 900 runners. Only 7 runners are allowed for JV and Varsity lineups. This race was a mixed bag of awesomeness and disappointment.
The three Freshman started off the racing for the Bucs at noon. James Humphrey and Erik Vincent stayed together the entirety of the race. Humphrey was told to pull away from Erik. Humphrey’s response was, “I tried, but he wouldn’t go away.” This cat and mouse game resulted in new Personal Records (PRs) for both of them. Humphrey shaved 20 seconds off of his previous record to finish in 26:26. Vincent was a meer 7 seconds behind him and shaved off 40 seconds from Kenny Lake and finished in 26:33. Oliver Ownbey ran a strong first lap and then experienced crippling shin splints. He still completed the race, determined not to quit. Way to go Oliver for demonstrating grit and determination!
Running in the Varsity races were Senior Cole Wadsworth, Junior Rafe Caruthers, and Sophomore Morgan Hamilton. Junior Anika Palomar is out with an injury, These three had been working hard at improving speed and stamina. In the Boys Varsity race, Caruthers was amidst a huge pack of big, fast runners. He completed the first lap/mile in under 6 minutes. At one point, a larger runner took 2 hands and moved Caruthers to the side. Caruthers held his pace for the second lap and then slowly began to lose steam. He still finished with an impressive 19:15. Wadsworth stuck with his goal lap time the first lap, then a side ache slowed him during the second lap and he was unable to recover his lost minutes, finishing in 22:51. In the Girls Varsity race, Hamilton also ran the first lap strong and then slowly began to lose speed the remaining two laps. She finished in 29:54.
This week we will work hard on hills as we gear up for Seward’s long ups and winding downs.
Go Bucs!
