Falcons newcomers making a statement

If teams each took turns hoisting the Region V 4A Volleyball Championship trophy, this year would be Thunder Mountain’s turn.

The Ketchikan Kings were the 2015 winners. The Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears were the 2016 winners. This year, give it to the Falcons, right?

If only it were that simple.

Once the first serve of the Region V tournament is launched at 4 p.m. Friday in Ketchikan, it could be anyone’s weekend.

But if it is Thunder Mountain that wins it all, one can bet one of the four newcomers to the team will have had a hand in it.

The Falcons added four new players to their varsity team this year, all of whom have contributed to the team’s recent successes, including two wins last weekend over JDHS and claiming the J.I.V.E. volleyball tournament championship. Freshman Lily Smith, sophomore Gabby Sloan and senior Emma Kaelke are brand new or recently new to town. Sophomore Amy Schoonover played on junior varsity last season for the Falcons.

Each player possesses strengths worthy of a varsity spot, but that’s only half of the equation.

TMHS head coach Arnold Ibias says team chemistry is also important. Growing up in a close-knit town together means many of the players have a pre-existing relationship when they join the volleyball team. While the juniors and seniors were familiar with Kaelke, who moved away from Juneau three years ago to play hockey in Boston, Smith and Sloan were recent transplants to Juneau.

Ibias admits he was a little nervous about taking a risk by betting on the unknown in order to hopefully achieve a more skilled team.

“That was a little bit of a nervy move to put both of those (girls) on varsity, but their skill level just stood out,” he said.

Kaelke brings a strong block to the net; Sloan and Smith give the team a stronger hitting corp.

After the Falcons’ two wins last weekend against rival Juneau-Douglas, the tradeoff seems to have worked out. Sloan, a third or fourth option earlier in the season, suddenly became the first or second option, stealing some of the limelight from the juniors and seniors.

Ibias believes he knows what changed about Sloan’s game.

“That was the biggest adjustment for Gabby is, ‘Hey, I have to hit anything that’s given to me, I can’t wait for that perfect set,’ so we worked a lot with her on hitting things that weren’t in her zone before,” Ibias said.

JDHS has also made use of new talent, albeit in previously unforeseen ways. Freshman Kiana Potter has been playing libero for JDHS in place of Riley Stadt, who suffered a season-ending wrist injury during the J.I.V.E. tournament.

“Of course we’d rather have her playing libero,” Potter said. “But it’s also kinda exciting for me because it’s an opportunity to try something new and I actually really like liberoing.”

As the No. 1 seed in the tournament, TMHS has a first-round bye and plays at 8 p.m. Friday and either 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. on Saturday.

No. 2 JDHS opens the tournament against No. 3 Ketchikan in a battle of the last two Region V champs Friday at 4 p.m..

By 4 p.m. Saturday, a 4A champion will have been crowned.

Region V 3A-4A Volleyball Championships

Hosted by Ketchikan High School

Friday, Nov. 3

4 p.m. 4A Game 1 (Ketchikan vs. Juneau-Douglas)

6 p.m. 3A Game 1 (Sitka vs. Mt. Edgecumbe)

8 p.m. 4A Game 2 (Game 1 winner vs. Thunder Mountain)

Saturday, Nov. 4

10 a.m. 4A Game 3

2 p.m. 4A Game 4