The Southeast Region V Volleyball Championships begin tomorrow at Thunder Mountain High School with a new look.
Only the 4A teams will be playing in Juneau.
Without 3A schools there will be no crossover All-Southeast game.
“This is drastically different,” Juneau-Douglas coach Lesslie Knight said. “No cheering and supporting our southeast friends. Through the years, we get to know the kids. I have housed kids and would love to watch them play. One of my fondest memories is having all the 3A’s cheering for us at the volleyball regions during the ‘if’ game. In more than 25 years of coaching, that was a first to have everyone cheering for Juneau. That brings tears to my eyes.”
With just two teams in the 3A ranks this season, Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka, the 3A tournament will be a best-of-three series between the two starting tonight at Mt. Edgecumbe.
On Friday, the Wolves and Braves will play at Sitka and the “if necessary” game will be Saturday at Mt. Edgecumbe.
“The reason it was changed to separate locations is this is the first year with just Mt. Edgecumbe and Sitka after Petersburg opted down,” Alaska School Activities Association Representative Andrew Friske said. “It was a cost thing. My guess is after this year it will go back to 3A/4A together in Ketchikan next season. It is going to be weird for everybody not having the 3A/4A together in the same tournament.”
Petersburg opted down to the 2A ranks this season and will play in the 2A small school region volleyball tournament at host Skagway on Nov. 20-21 along with Wrangell, Craig, Haines, Metlakatla, and Klawock. The Mix 6 Championships with Angoon, Gustavus, Hoonah, Hydaburg and Kake will be at host Thorne Bay on the same dates.
“It also really waters down the officials,” Friske said. “We are scrambling for officials, Juneau was scrambling for officials and so is Wrangell. They have a seeding tournament coming up. So does Petersburg this weekend. There are just not very many certified volleyball officials right now.
The seeding tournament is needed for the smaller schools because they do not all get a chance to play each other during the season.
That has not been a problem for the 4A ranks.
When the Ketchikan Lady Kings (6-2) take on the Thunder Mountain Falcons (0-8) Friday at 4 p.m., with the winner playing the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears (6-2) at 8 p.m., the teams will not have a familiarity problem.
“We need to have our attitudes in the right place,” TMHS coach Arnold Ibias said. “I like the way we are playing, but we are just not able to finish games. We are working hard this week to find that element of our game that we are missing. We’ve talked a lot this week about being a team and believing in one’s self as well as your team. We have to play as a team in order to handle the offense of JD and Ketchikan.”
Both Kayhi and JDHS have swept TMHS this season. Ketchikan match scores have been close against the Juneau teams.
“It would have been great to be 8-0 but we are not,” Ibias said. “At the beginning of the season our motto was keep your eye on the prize. This season has been tough trying to find what makes us tick and I am hoping, with the focus at practice this week, we will get what we’ve been working for since August. I’ve got a great group of girls to work with and that is the highlight for me.”
“We just need to trust our team,” Ketchikan coach Naomi Michelson said. “Team comes first. We need to just work and have fun. Maintain focus and pass, pass, pass… and get our serves in.”
Knight said she’s wanting to see her team “be competitive and fired up.”
“I had a big talk with the girls on if they considered themselves competitive,” she said. “I am not seeing the same kind of competitiveness that I have expectations for. Yesterday was a pretty intense practice and I think I scared them. I think you have to pick it up and get better, not stay at the same level. They are capable of playing better but sometimes they just coast.”
REGION V 4A
TOURNAMENT
SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, Game 1 – 4 p.m., KTN vs. TMHS; GM 2 – 8 p.m. JDHS vs. Winner GM 1.
SATURDAY, GM 3 – Noon elimination, Loser GM 1 vs. Loser GM 2; GM 4 – 4 p.m. championship, Winner GM 2 vs. Winner GM 3; GM 5 – 8 p.m., if necessary if GM 4 loser’s first loss. A skill’s competition will be held at 11 a.m.
