The South Anchorage Wolverines claimed the Dimond/Service volleyball tournament crown on Saturday night, sweeping the Dimond Lynx 25-17, 25-15 in the championship match.

“I had so much confidence in our team,” said South junior setter Ellie Kleven, who was also named tournament MVP.

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve been practicing really hard, and earlier today we beat Dimond before (the championship match). And so I kind of just felt like, since we did that earlier, that we could just do it again.”

The top two teams in the Cook Inlet Conference this season met in the afternoon semifinal, where South (10-3 CIC) dispatched the Lynx 25-7, 25-23 to earn a spot in the final and send Dimond (13-0 CIC) into a consolation matchup with the Service Cougars.

After Dimond clawed their way back against Service 25-19, 25-19, the familiar foes found themselves on opposite sides of the net yet again.

Halfway through the first set, South worked on its momentum behind an ace from senior middle blocker Litia Momoisea and a stiff block by junior outside hitter/libero Meadow Carr. Dimond’s responses came with kills by freshman setter Anayah Sila and sophomore outside hitter Ailafo Fautanu, but South soon racked up a comfortable eight-point lead.

Dimond/Service Tournament
Most Valuable Player
Ellie Klevin – South
All-Tournament Team
Elise Kelly – Chugiak
Maria Bunch – Colony
Eleasha Sapon – Dimond
Sarah Dittman – Dimond
Sophia Tapley – Kenai
Kate Wisnewski – Kenai
Ruby Tansy – Lathrop
Ashlynn Playle – Nikiski
Macey Henry – North Pole
Khloe Ivey – Palmer
Kiara Iloilo – Service
Dakota Evans – Service
Morgan Simac – Soldotna
Latia Mamoisia – South

As the first set came to a close, a kill by junior middle blocker Indy Kmet sealed it 25-17 for the Wolverines.

South got out to an early lead in the second and final set behind a string of Lynx errors and another ace from Momoisea.

Near the end, Kleven executed a sly dump to boost her team as the Wolverines inched closer to securing the tournament title.

After the match, she downplayed her MVP award.

“It’s a whole group effort,” she said. “I just have to thank my teammates for that, but I feel really honored.”

Dimond’s offense found footing midway through the set, with Ailafo Fautanu showing her full-court range, spiking it to the back line and tapping it over the net to deliver kills. Senior libero Eleasha Sapon showed out on defense for the Lynx with 18 digs.

As the match wound down, South junior middle blocker Ellie Birch helped lock it in with two kills, including one where she wound around her setter, Kleven, to deliver the spike from the corner.

The Wolverines easily emerged won their pool, sweeping Nikiski, West Anchorage and North Pole. Their only dropped set of the tournament came at the hands of the Chugiak Mustangs.

During Saturday’s bracket play, South took down the Lathrop Malemutes (25-22, 22-17) and the Colony Knights (25-16, 25-9) before their first showdown with the Lynx.

As the CIC tournament approaches, South hosts Chugiak on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. for its last conference matchup of the year while Dimond will look to stay undefeated in conference play against Bartlett at home Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.