The visiting Soldotna volleyball team defeated Homer 25-18, 16-25, 21-25, 25-22 and 15-12 in nonconference action Friday night.
The Stars, a Class 4A school, improve to 2-2, while the Mariners, a Class 3A school, are 0-4 overall.
For Homer, Caitlyn Rogers had four aces, Rebecca Trowbridge had 28 assists and seven digs, and Gracie Miotka had 14 kills.
“I thought the team played tremendously better than the last game we had against Kenai,” Homer coach Ian Overson told Homer News on Saturday. “They played as a team unit and really impressed with their tenacity.”
Overson noted how the Lady Mariners took back the second and third sets after losing to SoHi in the first, and that the final two sets were neck-and-neck between the two teams.
“It was a bunch of different players doing a lot of different things that made it, for me as a coach, a pleasure to watch,” Overson said. “I talked to the coach from Soldotna and we both discussed at length how it went back and forth between our teams. I mean they’re a 4A team, so truly, they should be a lot better than us, and they played a great game too. But my girls stuck it out and did an amazing job.”
Soldotna coach Luke Baumer said his team showed some resilience in winning in five sets after losing in five sets at Nikiski on Thursday night.
“We got some of that Nikiski magic tonight,” Baumer said. “It was nice to be able to pull that one out.”
The SoHi coach said the serve of Homer’s Rebecca Trowbridge was a huge factor in the match.
“She had a wicked float serve going at least 38 miles per hour,” Baumer said. “It had no spin, it crossed low to the net, and it was hard to pass.”
The coach said those serves were the difference in Game 2.
Overson said the team had worked on their serving the day before the game against SoHi, and agreed that practice was a factor in the Mariners’ performance on Friday.
“All the girls commented that they were very glad that they worked on serving, because our serving before that wasn’t where I wanted it to be,” he said. “That game, they proved to me how good their serving was, which is awesome.”
Baumer said Homer showed a lot of fight all night, and the Stars hurt themselves with 19 missed serves.
“We’re going to be going back to dialing in our serving,” Baumer said.
Kiara Forkner had 19 digs for SoHi, while Hallie Fischer had eight kills, Sadie Lane had five kills and six aces, Abygale Schaeffer had five kills and Sarah Brown had 23 assists.
Baumer said it took the whole bench to pull out the match, because the coach was subbing liberally when he felt the chemistry was off. He said Delaney Smith came in as the right back defensive specialist in Game 4 and got five digs in two sets, which is a lot for that position.
SoHi hosts Homer on Thursday. The varsity Mariners will play the Stars at 5 p.m.
Outside hitter Gracie Miotke spikes the ball at the varsity game versus Soldotna on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023 in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Middle blocker Goldie Hill serves the ball at the varsity game versus Soldotna on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023 in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Homer captain and outside hitter Regan Baker bumps the ball to her teammate at the varsity game versus Soldotna on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023 in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Outside hitter Regan Baker digs the ball in the fifth set of the varsity game versus Soldotna on Friday, Sept. 1, 2023 in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
