The Kenai Central volleyball team was fourth in the Gold Bracket, while Soldotna was fifth, at the Dimond-Service Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Anchorage.
Also from the Peninsula, Homer was second in the Bronze Bracket, while Nikiski was champion of the consolation portion of the Bronze Bracket.
In SoHi’s final set of the tournament Saturday, middle hitter Makenna Rosin tore her anterior cruciate ligament, according to coach Sheila Kupferschmid.
“Makenna had a really great tournament,” said Kupferschmid of Rosin, who won the Floorburner Award for SoHi, given to each team’s top player. “This is difficult for our team and devastating for Makenna.
“We just have to regroup and see what we have.”
The squads started with pool play Friday, and both the Stars and Kardinals came out on top of their groups. Soldotna won Group C with a 6-2 record, while Kenai took Group D with a 6-2 record.
The Stars split with East 22-25 and 25-19, swept Service 25-20 and 25-17, swept Kodiak 25-16 and 25-20, and split with Mt. Edgecumbe 30-28 and 20-25.
The Kards swept Homer 25-14 and 25-22, swept Chugiak 25-16 and 25-23, split with West Valley 19-25 and 25-23, and split with West 18-25 and 25-18.
Nikiski was last in Group A with a 1-7 mark. The Bulldogs were swept by Dimond 25-7 and 25-10, swept by Juneau 25-16 and 25-22, split with Colony 10-25 and 25-20, and were swept by Lathrop 25-12 and 25-11.
Homer was last in Group D, finishing 0-8. The Mariners lost to West 25-23 and 25-14, Kenai 25-14 and 25-22, West Valley 25-21 and 25-16, and Chugiak 25-11 and 25-14.
Due to their finish in pool play, both Kenai and Soldotna made their way into the Gold Bracket on Saturday.
The Kardinals started with a 25-15 and 25-6 victory over Grace Christian, while Soldotna started by pulling out a 17-25, 25-17 and 16-14 victory over Juneau.
Kenai and SoHi then dropped into the playback bracket in the next round. The Kards lost to East 25-22 and 25-13, while the Stars lost to South 25-23 and 25-13.
In the playback bracket, Kenai notched a 22-25, 25-20 and 15-11 victory over West, while SoHi went down to Dimond 25-11 and 25-20. The Kards then went down to Dimond 25-3 and 25-15.
Abby Beck and Alli Steinbeck were on the all-tournament team for the Kards, while Beck picked up the Floorburner Award.
For SoHi, Sylvia Tuisaula made the all-tournament team. Kupferschmid said her players had to take the SAT, so the bench did a great job filling in against Juneau and South.
Both Homer and Nikiski were in the Bronze Bracket. They started by playing each other, with Homer winning 25-14 and 25-22. Homer then lost to Service in the championship 25-22 and 25-16. Nikiski topped Ketchikan in the consolation final, 29-27 and 25-21.
Brittany Perry got the Floorburner Award for the Bulldogs.
“I thought it was a great tournament,” Nikiski coach Stacey Segura said. “I felt like we started off pretty slow Friday, which is why we ended up in the Bronze instead of the Silver, which we were aiming for.
“We won against Ketchikan and ended on a positive note, so we’re ready for Homer on Tuesday.”
The Bulldogs play at Homer on 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, while on Friday Kenai travels to SoHi at 6 p.m. and Seward travels to Nikiski at 5 p.m.
