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The West Valley Wolfpack took command of the race for the regular season Mid Alaska Conference volleyball championship by claiming a hard-fought victory over the Lathrop Malemutes Thursday night on the Wolfpack’s home floor.

The Wolfpack improved to 3-0 in conference play and 6-0 overall by posting a 25-15, 23-25, 25-16, 28-26 triumph.

“It was a hard-fought battle and they never gave up,” West Valley coach Dave Cox said Thursday night. “We came together as a team and played the way we did last Saturday in Valdez.”

West Valley overcame a 24-20 deficit to win the fourth game Thursday. Samantha Wolters delivered the game-winning kill when her spike deflected off Lathrop’s defenders and went out of bounds.

“To beat a team like Lathrop took everything we had,” Cox said. “We had strong attacking, strong blocking and our serving was a big improvement.”

Setter Michaela Hale had a strong all-around performance for the Wolfpack, including nine kills and several digs.

“She was everywhere tonight,” Cox said. “We tend to lean on her pretty heavily and she came through for us tonight.”

Karole Renfro had 15 kills for the Wolfpack, including nine in the fourth game. Wolters finished with 10 kills and Jenna Slater tallied eight.

The Wolfpack had several strong serving performances from the likes of Fabienne Clerc (20-for-21), Danielle Meeks (19-20) and Jovia Manzie (15-16).

It was the first loss of the season for the Malemutes, who dropped to 1-1 in league play and 6-1 overall. The Malemutes also recently beat the host Wolfpack in the championship game of the West Valley Invitational.

“I think most of our frustration tonight was in the serving game,” said Lathrop coach Sovanny Ebbesen, who credited West Valley’s serve receive and strong passing as the key to the Wolfpack victory.

“I thought our team play was nicely executed, but anything we put over the net they dug up,” Ebbesen said. “The pressure was on us to hit the ball as hard as we could in order to put it down for a point.”

Julie Gilhuly led the Malemutes’ offense with 16 kills and she added five service aces. Chloe Johnson contributed 18 digs and Britt Glaeser registered eight blocks.

The Malemutes host Houston at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Patriots sweep

The North Pole Patriots used a strong performance from their middle hitters to overpower the Houston Hawks in a Mid Alaska Conference match Thursday night at North Pole.

Mackenzie Foran pounded down 11 kills and Meghan McKinnell added seven, to go along with eight blocks as the Patriots rolled to a 25-3, 25-13, 25-12 victory.

“We started strong tonight and kept that momentum going,” North Pole coach Victoria Kilgore said. “We haven’t displayed that much energy and confidence all year.”

Foran also had an outstanding serving night as she connected for 22 straight points in the opening game of the match.

“She is a consistent server and tough,” Kilgore said.

Kilgore also credited setters Sam Wood and Macy Mann with strong performances that enabled the Patriots to register 33 kills on the night.

“Our setters were consistent and mixed it up well,” Kilgore said. “That helped us out on offense because it kept Houston off-guard a little bit.”

The victory improved the Patriots to 1-2 in the MAC and 2-4 overall.

The North Pole junior varsity also defeated the Hawks.

North Pole returns to the court on Tuesday in a nonconference match at Monroe Catholic.

Houston plays at Hutchison tonight and Lathrop on Saturday morning.

Gymnastics

Led by all-around champion Zoe Wildfeuer, the West Valley gymnastics team posted a 170.4-145.2 victory over the Lathrop Malemutes in a meet that also included gymnasts from Monroe Catholic and Hutchison high schools.

Wildfeuer notched an all-around score of 32.100 to claim the top spot.

There was a tight battle for second place, with West Valley’s Dana Morton pulling out the runner-up spot with a 30.65. Monroe Catholic’s Cassie Ringstad took third place in 30.40 and Lathrop’s Kaylee Manning was fourth in 30.350.

West Valley’s Emily East rounded out the top five with a score of 29.750.

Individual event winners were East in the vault with a 8.35, East on the beam with an 8.40, Morton on the bars with an 8.50 and Wildfeuer in the floor exercise with a 7.9.

Complete meet results will be published in Saturday’s Daily News-Miner.

Hutch netters win

The Hutchison tennis team arrived a little bit late, but finished the regular season on a high note with a 7-0 victory over the Eielson Ravens on Thursday at The Athletic Club South.

The Hawks won all four matches that were played and picked up three forfeits.

The highlight of the day was the mixed doubles match where Hutchison’s Dan Powers and Allie Parra outlasted Eielson’s Amanda Williams and Thomas Baldwin, 1-6, 6-4, 7-3 tiebreaker.

Hutchison’s Nick Raugust earned a 6-0, 6-0 triumph over Taylor Jacobs. In girls singles action, Hutch’s Kelsey Peterson notched a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Amber Harger, and Kayla Robertson posted a 6-2, 6-0 triumph over Krystal Madison.

Next up on the high school tennis schedule is the Region VI Championships Oct. 3-4 at The Athletic Club South.