KETCHIKAN — It was a tough night for the Lady Kings on Saturday at the Clarke Cochrane Gymnasium. After barely falling in the first set to Thunder Mountain 25-23, the Lady Kings dropped the next two sets by wider margins, 25-19 and 25-12.
“The girls weren’t mentally prepared at all from the beginning of the night,” Kayhi head coach Naomi Michalsen said. “None of us showed up. We have some great athletes but they weren’t prepared at all.”
Thunder Mountain head coach Arnold Ibias said his team held a players-only meeting following Friday’s match, a five-set Kayhi victory.
“The girls had a talk and decided last night that was not the way they wanted to lose,” Ibias said. “(On Friday), Ketchikan picked us apart. They were very smart with their hitters and we were very flat-footed. They saw that and took advantage of it.”
The Lady Kings earned a series split with the Lady Falcons after earning a win in Friday’s match three sets to two. Kayhi is now 2-2 on the season, winning one match and losing one against 4A Southeast opponents Juneau-Douglas and Thunder Mountain.
Ketchikan also honored seniors Kreylynn Johnson, Kassi Montero, Kinani Halvorsen, Havalah Clark and Sherrine Bautista in a senior night ceremony before Saturday’s match.
Thunder Mountain’s Marissa Tanuvasa-Tuvaifale led the Lady Falcons in serving and excelled in the front of the net as a blocker and a hitter. Kayhi struggled returning serves all evening, especially in the second set, when the Lady Falcons recorded three aces as part of a 10-4 run to begin the set.
“Their serves took a toll on us,” Michalsen said. “They don’t miss much.”
Kayhi found itself down 17-6 before climbing back into contention. The Lady Kings closed the gap all the way to 23-18 before Thunder Mountain scored two more points to take the second set 25-19.
“Thunder Mountain played some great defense,” Michalsen said. “We made some changes in the middle of the match and some of those things didn’t work.”
After dropping a close first set and falling short in their comeback bid in the second set, the Lady Kings looked defeated in the third set, dropping it quickly 25-12.
Ibias said there are a couple new players on varsity this season, but the returning players with varsity experience helped the team take a step forward from last season. He said the biggest challenge Thunder Mountain faces this year is making sure it brings its best to every match.
“If we hold ourselves together and play our game, we’ll be victorious,” Ibias said. “If we don’t play our game, this year especially, it could be any one of us, Juneau-Douglas, Ketchikan or us, it’s going to be any team that brings their best that night.”
Michalsen also said the conference looks to be competitive between all three teams this season.
“It’s going to be a good battle,” she said. “The weekend off will give us time to recooperate but also it is a time to practice. I think we need to work on our mental game and our defense.”
