Cordova volleyball squad advances to state

Cordova’s volleyball team played their first game in the 2A State tournament on Dec. 8.

CHS, the defending state champions, faced Kenny Lake in a 10 a.m. match at Dimond High School in Anchorage.

Wolverine Coach Janelle Greenwood was not taking anything for granted.  Cordova came in second in the district playoffs at Soldotna last weekend, falling to Su-Valley 3-0 in the championship game.

Kenny Lake defeated Glennallen to win their regional playoff, and will come in with a top seed in the bracket.

“We haven’t played them this year, but hear they are very, very good.  They have a couple new coaches that have built a program in a hurry, and dominated their region.”

Other first round state matchups pit Dilllingham versus Craig, Su-Valley versus Petersburg, and Chevak versus King Cove.

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Unlike state 2A basketball tournaments, the state volleyball tournament is double-elimination. which means a team could lose in the opening round and still play back through for a chance at the title.

“We know very little about the teams from Southeast or Southwest,” said Greenwood, “so playing them would be an interesting challenge.

Cordova will be led by senior Leigh Peebles, who was named MVP of the regional playoffs.   She is the only senior on this year’s squad.

“We have a very young team”, said Greenwood.  “One senior, one junior, and the rest are sophomores.  But we had a good weekend at regionals, and hopefully that momentum will help us at state.”

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Dick Shellhorn
Dick Shellhorn is a lifelong Cordovan. He has been writing sports stories for the Cordova Times for over 50 years. In his Cordova Chronicles features, he writes about the history and characters of this Alaska town. Alaska Press Club awarded Shellhorn first place for Best Humor column in 2016 and 2020, and third place in 2017 and 2019. He also received second place for Best Editorial Commentary in 2019. Shellhorn has written two books about Alaska adventures: Time and Tide and Balls and Stripes. Reach him at dshorn44@gmail.com.