Courtesy of VHS Varsity Volleyball Coach
This week the Lady Bucs were on the road again facing some of the toughest competition of their season. On Thursday the Valdez team was on fire with scrappy defense and tough serving to beat Palmer (a big Top 10 ranked 4A Division team) in five sets 28-30, 25-20, 25-16, 12-25, 15-7.
Friday began the annual Grace Tournament in Anchorage with some of the best 3A and 4A teams in the state in attendance. Pool play consisted of a single set to 25 points. The Bucs went 4-4 beating Seward 25-16, Mountain City Christian Academy 25-14, Cordova 25-20, and Mt. Edgecumbe 25-16 and losing to Nikiski 16-25, Barrow 21-25, Soldotna 22-15, and Colony 23-25. At the end of pool play the Bucs were ranked 5th which placed them into the gold bracket for Saturday’s double elimination tournament.
The Bucs faced Homer in the first round of the bracket easily securing the win 20-14 and 20-9. Next up was Sitka, where our smart offense put us on top winning 20-17, 20-18. This win secured our spot in the semifinals against Mountain City Christian Academy. The Bucs were focused once again and ousted the Lions 20-18, 20-11. Valdez was on a role, undefeated in bracket play which put us in the gold bracket championship game facing the Sitka Wolves once again.
Game one was an excellent display of the Valdez ability to find the holes in our opponent’s defense, coming out on top 20-12. Game two the Wolves managed to step up their offense and beat the Bucs 14-20 which sent us to a tie breaker set. The Bucs fought hard in the third set but ultimately came up short losing 10-15. But it wasn’t over yet! The championship would be decided by one 30 point “if game” because the Lady Bucs had only lost once in the double elimination tournament bracket. After getting off to a slow start the Bucs picked up the momentum and had some amazing plays. However, this time the Wolves were just too much for the Bucs and they finished with a loss 23-30.
Setter Destiny Day and Outside Hitter Lola Compehos were named to the All-Tournament team.
The Lady Bucs played hard all weekend and continue to show improvement. They have an open weekend next week but will be hard at it in the gym as they prepare for a big 4A tournament at Dimond in two weeks. GO BUCS!