The Homer varsity volleyball team came in fourth at the Southcentral Conference Championships over the weekend in Homer.

Held at Homer High School, the tournament hosted seven teams from the conference over Friday and Saturday, Nov. 3-4. Grace Christian School came out victorious in first place, with the Nikiski Bulldogs following in second. Seward High School beat Homer in their last match to take third.

Homer lost its first match of the tournament against Grace 0-3, with the Grizzlies winning 27-25, 25-19 and 25-20. In that game, Brianna Hetrick had 20 assists, 13 digs four aces and four kills; Kelli Bishop had 10 kills and 18 digs; Laura Inama had five kills and nine digs; and Marina Carroll had eight kills, two aces, two blocks and 12 digs.

The lady Mariners went on to win their next match against the Redington Huskies 3-0, with Homer winning 25-16, 25-11 and 25-19. In that game, Ksenia Kuzmin had six digs, six aces and three kills, while Inama had six aces and two kills.

Homer then advanced once more after their match against Anchorage Christian School on Saturday morning, which the Mariners won 3-0. The individual set scores were 25-20, 25-21 and 25-21. In that match, Karmyn Gallios had 24 digs, Inama had three aces and four kills, Bishop had six kills and Carroll had two aces and 18 digs.

When it came down to the fateful match between Homer and Seward, the Mariners lost all three sets 20-25, 22-25 and 19-25. Carroll had four aces, four kills and 16 digs; Hetrick had two aces, three kills and 14 assists; and Inama had 23 digs.

It’s the end of what head coach Erin Brege has called a building year.

“It was wonderful postseason play,” she said. “We were excited to see Seward. We played them a couple times in-season, but we didn’t really see them a whole lot at tournaments, so this was nice. … Overall it was competitive, it was a great game, and the girls played well.”

Brege said the players are already talking about next year. Although she started the season with one senior, she is ending the season with none. This means all the players will be back in the program next year, she said, and they’ll be working to continue to improve.

“It’s exciting, you know?” she said. “They’re having fun with it, and I couldn’t ask for a better end of a season.”

Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@homernews.com.

Homer sophomore Kelli Bishop lands after spiking the ball to the Redington Huskies during their match Friday, Nov. 3, 2017 at Homer High School in Homer, Alaska during the 2017 Southcentral Conference Championships. The Mariners took fourth overall. (Photo by Megan Pacer/Homer News)