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Posted 9-24-09
The Mt. Edgecumbe Lady Braves volleyball team is off to another hot start in 2009. The Lady Braves improved to 5-0 on the season Wednesday night with a victory over cross-town rival Sitka.
The Lady Braves swept Sitka, taking three straight games, in front of a large and supportive crowd at B.J. McGillis Gymnasium on Japonski Island.
With the win, Mt. Edgecumbe has now won 38 straight matches over 3A opponents from Southeast. The Lady Braves have won the last two Region V titles, and though the season is still young, Edgecumbe appears to be the team to beat once again in 2009.
So far this season, Edgecumbe has won on the road at Wrangell and Haines and beaten Sitka. The Lady Braves are off this weekend before making a trip to Craig to play the Lady Panthers Oct. 2-3.
Craig seems to be improved in 2009. The Lady Panthers were in Sitka last week and split a pair of five-game matches with the Lady Wolves. Still, Edgecumbe will stand at the top of the heap until a 3A team in Southeast proves they can beat the Lady Braves.
You have to go back to the Region V tournament final in 2006 to find the last time Edgecumbe lost to a 3A Southeast opponent. And despite losing nine seniors, including two all-state players, from last year's state tournament team, coach Rich Calkins' team has plenty of talent in 2009.
Calkins said recently that he will look to three returning seniors to provide leadership this season: Britley Calkins (Sitka), Bessie Binkowski (Anchorage) and Connie Melovidov (St. Paul).
The trio has been with coach Calkins for four years and each player understands how to play Edgecumbe volleyball. Coach Calkins also filled in his roster with a few players who are new to Edgecumbe this year, including Christina Fields, a junior from Kotzebue, and two sisters from Hoonah, Brenna and Kristin Johanson, a sophomore and junior, respectively. Colby Howarth, a junior from Kotzebue, Kailyn Kashevarof, a junior from Nome, Aurora Warrior, a Wasilla junior, Chelsea Wassily, a senior from Clarks Point and Nicole Pingayak, a senior from Chevak, round out the roster.
Pingayak starred for the Mt. Edgecumbe girls basketball team last year and played a key role as the Lady Braves made a run to the state title game. Pingayak, who is also a member of the cross country team at Edgecumbe, decided to take a crack at volleyball in 2009.
Coach Calkins has said the volleyball team's goal early in the season is to "get better each day." Calkins acknowledged that the team is talented, but the girls do not have much experience playing together and need to gel as a unit for Mt. Edgecumbe to make another run at the state tournament.
"The team's primary goal is to win a third straight Region V title,"Calkins said.
Mt. Edgecumbe will host the regional tournament (Nov. 5-7) this year, giving Mt. Edgecumbe fans a chance to watch the Lady Braves take on teams from around Southeast.
The two teams that reach the 3A Southeast final will both advance to the eight-team state tournament in Anchorage, Nov. 12-14. Once there, the Lady Braves will need to win three more matches to take the state title.
In 2007, Edgecumbe lost a five-game heartbreaker in the state final to Cordova, a perennial power. Last year, an extremely talented Edgecumbe team ran into a hot Grace Christian squad and fell in the first-round.
Edgecumbe is hoping for another trip to the state tournament in 2009, where the Lady will take their best shot against the state's best teams.