The Nikolaevsk Warriors won and advanced Thursday at the Mix Six state volleyball championships at Dimond High School with a 2-1 win over Gustavus, which beat Shishmaref earlier in the day,
The Warriors won with game scores of 25-27, 25-15 and 15-11, and will play 11 a.m. Friday against Tanalian, which handled Akiuk 2-0. Nikolaevsk head coach Bea Klaich said the wait to play until the late afternoon left the team a little sluggish out of the gates, but the Warriors were able to rebound.
“Those first game jitters kind of took place in the first set and we got buried a little,” Klaich said. “The kids came roaring back and we lost but we came out of that set happy and they settled down and played really well.”
Nikolaevsk was one of four teams in the 12-team tournament that had a first-round bye, a group that also included Akiuk, Kalskag and Nunamuit. A win by Nikolaevsk in Friday’s morning game with Tanalian would advance them to a Friday night semifinal at 8 p.m. The winner of that game moves on to Saturday’s championship final at 2 p.m.
Klaich said the team defense came together well against Gustavus, crediting the efforts of setter Elizabeth Fefelov, who Klaich said did not miss a serve, and senior Emily Gerasimof on defense. Klaich added that middle blocker Zachary Trail finished strong.
