DAILY MIRROR STAFF

Beating a good team twice in a row is difficult.

Kodiak’s volleyball squad found that out on Saturday.

Soldotna avenged an opening-round loss to Kodiak to come back and take down the Bears 25-21, 25-21, 25-21 in the Northern Lights Conference third/fourth-place match at Wasilla High School.

Soldotna earns the third and final NLC berth into the state tournament, while Kodiak’s season ends one game shy of making a repeat trip to state. The Bears end with an 8-9 record.

“I’m very proud of the way they battled against Soldotna the second time,” Kodiak coach Rick Carman wrote in an e-mail.

“I think we caught them by surprise the first match but the second match Soldotna came out breathing fire, prepared to beat us down. But, the girls battled until the very end … they never gave up at any point in the match.”

Samantha Oliver tallied seven kills and 13 digs.

On Thursday, Kodiak handed Soldotna (19-1) its first loss of the season. The Bears, however, lost to Palmer 25-20, 25-19, 25-17 in Friday’s semifinal match.

Rhonda Yamat knocked down a team-high six kills in the match, while Samantha Oliver recorded 17 digs.

Kodiak then beat Wasilla 25-17, 25-16, 23-25, 26-24 on Saturday morning to reach the winner-to-state match.

Mara Yatsik tallied 13 kills and four blocks, while Anna Willis chipped in nine kills, 12 digs and three blocks.

Yamat and Samantha Oliver each had eight kills, while Emily Horn dished out 32 assists and had 15 digs.

Yatsik, a senior, earned first team NLC honors, while Horn, a senior, earned second team honors.

Senior Karly Sternberg was voted onto the Good Sport Team.

Palmer defeated Colony 25-27, 25-17, 25-17, 25-21 in the championship game. Both teams earned a trip to the state tournament that begins Thursday.

NLC awards

South MVP — Shane Powell, Soldotna

North MVP — Siobhan Johansen, Colony

Coach of the year — Bruce King, Soldotna

First team All-Conference

Sierra Hodgson, Colony; Jaxon Hill, Skyview; Nicole Cherrier, Palmer; Emily Rohloff, Soldotna; Mara Yatsik, Kodiak; Mariah Huhndorf, Kenai; Brittany Arlow, Palmer; Aryn Crane, Wasilla.

Second team All-Conference

Jessie Erickson, Homer; Emily Horn, Kodiak; Sariah Tuisaula, Wasilla; Casee Penrod, Skyview; Jenna Arlow, Palmer; Mariah Hamilton, Soldotna; Monica Hutchinson, Skyview; Lexi Beeson, Kenai.

Good sport team

Gaynor Johansen, Colony; Carla Muller, Homer; Lierin Flanagan, Kenai; Karly Sternberg, Kodiak; Danielle Pempek, Palmer; Jaci Lamborn, Skyview; Jasmine Woodland, Soldotna; Kaitlin Pevan, Wasilla.