The Kenai Central volleyball team led the Kenai Peninsula with a fourth place finish in the Platinum Bracket on Friday and Saturday at the 2021 Lady Grizzly Volleyball Tournament in Anchorage.

Also from the peninsula, Homer was fifth in the Platinum Bracket, Soldotna was fourth in the Gold Bracket, Seward was fifth in the Gold Bracket and Nikiski was second in the Silver Bracket.

Saturday, Kenai started bracket play with a 20-14, 20-17 loss to Homer before topping Palmer 20-13, 21-19. Kenai then lost to Valdez 25-23, 20-14.

After defeating Kenai, Homer lost to Colony 20-10, 16-20, 15-10. The Mariners then lost to Valdez 22-20, 21-19.

Soldotna started Saturday by defeating Seward 18-20, 20-15, 4-3, before losing to Kodiak 20-11, 20-18. The Stars then defeated Su-Valley 20-16, 20-12 before falling to Grace 20-8, 20-14.

After losing to SoHi, Seward lost to Grace 20-9, 20-10.

In the Silver Bracket, Nikiski opened with an 18-20, 20-18, 5-1 victory over Barrow, then defeated Dimond JV 25-23, 20-11. After falling to Monroe 20-15, 20-17, the Bulldogs topped Dimond JV 18-20, 20-13, 13-9 to make the final against Monroe. The Bulldogs forced the if-necessary game with 25-21, 25-21 wins, but lost that if-necessary game 30-18.

In Friday’s pool play, Homer finished 6-2 in Pool A, while Soldotna was 4-4. In Pool B, Kenai was 6-2, while Seward was 4-4 and Nikiski was 2-6.

Homer defeated Dimond’s JV 25-20, defeated Soldotna 25-11, defeated Grace Christian 25-15, lost to Bartlett 25-18, defeated Houston 25-22, lost to Colony 25-18, defeated Barrow 25-10 and defeated Su-Valley 25-12.

Soldotna lost to Bartlett 26-24, lost to Homer, lost to Colony 25-11, defeated Dimond JV 25-15, defeated Barrow 25-18, defeated Su-Valley 26-24, lost to Grace Christian 25-16 and defeated Houston 25-22.

The Kardinals topped Monroe 25-21, lost to Palmer 25-18, lost to Nikiski 25-16, defeated Valdez 25-12, defeated Anchorage Christian Schools 25-5, defeated Seward 23-22, defeated Kodiak 25-15 and defeated Colony JV 25-16.

Seward defeated Nikiski 25-17, lost to Colony JV 25-23, lost to Kodiak 25-16, defeated Anchorage Christian Schools 25-22, defeated Monroe Catholic 26-24, lost to Kenai, defeated Valdez 25-20 and lost to Palmer 25-19.

The Bulldogs lost to Seward, lost to Kodiak 25-15, defeated Kenai, lost to Colony JV 25-17, lost to Monroe 25-21, lost to Valdez 25-23, defeated ACS 25-17 and lost to Palmer 25-14.

CIA drops pair of matches

The Cook Inlet Academy volleyball team took a pair of losses this week.

Tuesday, the Eagles fell to Kenai Central’s junior varsity 25-12, 25-7 and 25-6.

Friday, CIA fell to Ninilchik 13-25, 25-12, 25-23 and 27-25.