The Nikiski volleyball team clinched a state tournament spot with a swift 3-0 win over Anchorage Christian Friday night at the Southcentral Conference tournament at Homer High.
The win advances the Bulldogs to Saturday’s tournament championship game against Grace Christian at 4 p.m.
No matter the result of Saturday’s title game, Nikiski will be headed to state for a fourth time in six years.
Homer 3, Redington 0
Homer survived a “second-chance” meeting Friday night with a sweep of the Huskies, winning with scores of 25-16, 25-11 and 25-19.
Ksenia Kuzmin pumped in six digs, six aces and three kills to lead the Mariners, while Laura Inama added six aces and two kills.
Homer will face Anchorage Christian in a Saturday morning meeting at 9 a.m.
Grace Christian 3, Homer 0
The Mariners opened Friday with a loss to the Grizzlies with scores of 27-25, 25-19 and 25-20.
The loss relegated Homer to a Friday night second-chance showdown with Redington, which the Mariners won 3-0.
Leading the way for Homer was Kelli Bishop with 10 kills and 18 digs. Marina Carroll added eight kills, two aces, 12 digs and two blocks. The Mariners also got 20 assists from Brianna Hetrick, who added 13 digs, four aces and four kills to her stat line, and Laura Inama had five kills and nine digs.
