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Photo by Sam Harrel

FAIRBANKS — The unbeaten West Valley High School volleyball team overcame its errors on Tuesday night to sweep the Delta Junction Huskies 25-20, 25-21, 25-18 in a nonconference match in Delta Junction.

West Valley head coach Dave Cox said the Wolfpack committed 13 service and attacking errors in the first two games.

“The scores are somewhat misleading because we’d go on these huge error runs,” Cox said by telephone. “We would have a 10-point lead and then we’d make some bad errors.

“When they were talking and calling the balls, they were working great. When they were not talking, a set would be off or the ball would go off the hitter.”

Jenna Slater had a strong night at the net for the Wolfpack and delivered six kills, and Karole Renfro and Samantha Wolters contributed five kills apiece.

Cox said he is doing a lot more with this year’s edition of the Wolfpack, who improved to 3-0, compared to past seasons.

“We’re trying a quicker, diversified offense,” he said. “They’ve got their plate full, but it’s early in the season. We’re hoping by the end of the season, they’ll have it down. When it works, it’s beautiful.

“We have a large group of girls who didn’t see a lot of playing time last year because of the stellar athletes we had. They’re slowly getting confidence, though.”

West Valley opens Mid Alaska Conference play against the Houston Hawks at 5:30 p.m. Thursday

The Wolfpack play host to the 10-team West Valley Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

Lathrop sweeps

The Lathrop Malemutes cruised to a 25-9, 25-10, 25-7 win over a suddenly-short-handed Eielson Ravens team in Tuesday night’s nonconference volleyball match at Lathrop High School.

The Ravens lost five of their 11 varsity players to suspensions for violating a Fairbanks North Star Borough District policy at a party over the weekend.

“We have a good team and we were moving in a direction we wanted, and now it’s a setback,” Eielson head coach Shane McAfee said in a telephone interview.

The players are suspended from practices and matches for 15 days, and when they return, they have to practice five more times before they can play.

“Nothing against Lathrop, they played just fine,” said McAfee, “but we had no front row attack and our back row attack was discombobulated. There was not much of an effort against them.”

One standout for Eielson was junior defensive specialist Grace Faulk, who was brought up from junior varsity.

“She served consistently, she got all of her serves over,” said McAfee. “She passed better than all the varsity girls that were out there for us tonight.”

The teams play Friday and Saturday in the West Valley Invitational.

Rams netters win

The Monroe Catholic Rams took the first four matches, leading to a 5-2 win over the North Pole Patriots in Tuesday’s Mid Alaska Conference tennis duel meet at North Pole.

Eric Ringstad downed Phillip Martinez 6-1, 6-0 in boys No. 1 singles and Rams teammate Dan Bunten swept Adam Wurster 6-0, 6-0 in the boys No. 2 match. Joe Byrnes and Tyler Hill combined for a 6-0, 6-0 decision over Mason Schoemaker and Thomas Lenahan in boys doubles and Eilish Saunders took the girls No. 1 singles match with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Kayla Arthofer.

Monroe also collected a win in girls No. 2 doubles, as Kelsea Hewitt and Christin Davis emerged with a 6-5, 2-6, 7-0 win over Kelsey Scott and Victoria Martinez.

North Pole’s Laurie Geyer gained a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Meg Jones in girls No. 2 singles and the Patriots’ mixed doubles team of Ryan Smith and Katie Callahan outlasted Jim Winfree and Cassie Ringstad 6-4, 6-0.