Su Valley brings home state volleyball title

Following a strong regular season and a victory at the Borealis Conference tournament late last month, the Rams spent last weekend at Dimond High School competing in the Alaska School Activities Association 2A State Volleyball Tournament.

Head Coach Chad Valentine says a combination of other school activities, COVID-19 protocols, other illnesses, and injuries through the season required a total team effort from the squad.

“Because we were shifting between different groups playing from the beginning of the season to the end of the season, everybody—from the bottom of the bench to the top—was on the court at different times throughout the season….They might not have played at State but were starting at other times.”

In addition to a strong core of upperclassmen, Valentine says freshmen and sophomores had to step up and perform when called upon.

Valentine believes the Rams consistently improved throughout the season, but still have room for improvement.

“You like to think that your team is peaking when they’re supposed to.  I wouldn’t say that we met our peak, but we definitely were on the uphill side.  We were headed that way.  We were getting better with every match we played.”

To win state, the Rams went undefeated in four matches, including defeating Klawock twice.  That winning streak is a continuation of the conference tournament, where Su Valley also did not lose a single match.

In addition to bringing home the state title after dropping only three sets throughout the entire tournament, a number of Su Valley players were recognized for individual performances.

“I believe the players of the game were split between Alana Barron, Myka Wilson, and India Roderick. And then Alana was also awarded Best Hitter for the state tournament, and all three were also on the all-tournament team.”

While some of this year’s championship team will be graduating, Coach Valentine says there multiple talented players behind them who he hopes will return next year to provide a strong core as the Rams defend their state title in 2022.