The Dimond High School volleyball team continued its regular-season dominance of the Cook Inlet Conference on Tuesday night with a commanding victory over Service in three straight sets.
“It just feels good anytime you go out and get a win in this conference, so you can’t take them for granted,” head coach Kim Lauwers said. “Every team is tough and that’s why I told them anytime we can get a win, that’s a good night.”
She was especially impressed with her team’s ability to handle business so swiftly against such a quality opponent like the Cougars, who entered the week ranked third in the conference behind Dimond and South.
“Service is a great team and you can’t have an average night in this conference,” Lauwers said.
After cruising to 26-16 and 25-20 victories in the first two sets, the Lynx fell behind and had to rally multiple times in the third set before ultimately prevailing 25-22 to secure the sweep.
“We had to focus on our servicing,” Lauwers said. “(They) had some great servers there (who) tried to take us out of our system, and they did a really good job, so we just wanted to focus on that pass.”
Junior Nia Cook recorded a double-double by leading Dimond with 14 kills and finishing second in digs with 12. Team captain and starting setter, junior Puao Asailevai led the team with 19 assists and had the final kill in the third set to end the match.
The Lynx will have another tough test to close out this week when they travel to take on South on Friday night.
“They came into the season as favorites and they’ve got a lot of returners from last year’s championship (appearing) team,” Lauwers said. “We were fortunate to get them at our place first so now we’re going into their place and we’ll see what happens.”
The Lynx handed the Wolverines their first and lone loss to an in-state opponent this season a couple of weeks ago in a 3-0 sweep. Over the weekend at the West Spiketacular, South returned the favor by beating Dimond 2-1 in an nonconference abbreviated match.
“We’ll be hungry and we’ll be prepared,” Lauwers said. “We’ve got some similar matchups and we’ll focus on the things we need to do better.”
While the Dimond and Service volleyball teams were squaring off indoors on the hardwood of the gymnasium, the flag football programs for the two schools were facing off outdoors on the gridiron. Once again, it was the Lynx who emerged victorious as they beat the Cougars 27-7 and clinched the CIC title in the process.
Week 8 ASBN Football Poll
Division I
1. South 6-1
2. West 6-1
3. Bartlett 5-2
4. Juneau-Douglas 3-4
5. Service 5-2
Division II and III
1. Soldotna 7-0
2. Palmer 6-1
3. Barrow 5-2
4. Homer 6-1
5. West Valley 3-4
Fans of Alaska high school and collegiate basketball will see a pair of familiar faces on the bench when they attend games for the University of Alaska Anchorage men’s and women’s programs. Both have recently hired young assistant coaches with strong ties to the state.
Last week, the men’s program announced the addition of former Seawolf center Evan Hoosier, who played under head coach Rusty Osborne from 2019-2023 and now will begin his coaching career as a volunteer assistant on his staff.
On Monday, the women’s program announced that former 49th state prep star Mia ’Uhila is the final member of first-year head coach Matt Thune’s staff. As a senior at Bartlett in 2021, she won a 4A state title and earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors. ’Uhila went on to play for two NCAA Division I programs, starting at Portland State University and finishing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa for the 2024-25 season.
“I’m very excited to welcome Mia to our basketball program,” Thune said in a statement. “She brings great experience from her playing time at Hawaii, Portland State and locally at Bartlett. She joins us highly recommended on her character, work ethic, and her desire to begin her coaching career in order to mentor the next generation. I can’t wait to see her growth and continued impact in the Anchorage community.”
Moose Pass runner Ruby Lindquist finished just outside the top 10 in the Short Trail race at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Canfranc, Spain. The Seward High graduate came in 11th place after covering the 28-mile course that featured 12,000 feet of vertical gain in a time of 5 hours, 57 minutes.