Bartlett won the tournament overall, outlasting Juneau-Douglas in Saturday's championship game 25-21, 25-19, 19-25, 25-21. The Lady M's had to settle for third after falling to both Bartlett and Juneau Douglas in their opening round.
The Mariners had a bye in the first round, but then found themselves up against a warmed-up and fired-up Bear squad. Bartlett wasted no time opening up an early lead, and handed Homer a 17-25, 11-25 loss in the second round.
After dropping to the Bears, the Mariners regrouped and faced off against their own junior varsity squad. The elder players handed their younger teammates a 13-25, 19-25 loss before moving on to face the Soldotna varsity team.
Homer got the best of the Stars 25-16, 25-19 and the Lady Mariners worked their way back up to the semi-final match against Juneau. That was as far as the Lady M's would go, however, as Juneau eliminated Homer from the tournament in a "fight-to-the-finish" match.
Juneau lost the first game to the Mariners 19-25, before squeaking out in a 23-21 nail-biter in game two. With the games locked at one win each, the two teams battled it out in a head-to-head tie-breaker, and the Crimson Bears were the only ones moving on. The Mariners put up a good fight, but fell in the tie-breaker 15-11.
The evening's final match-up pitted Bear against Bear. The bruins from Bartlett drew first blood, picking up two quick 25-21 and 25-19 wins. However, the Crimson Bears apparently had no desire to roll over and give in, as they fought their way back to hand Bartlett a 19-25 loss in game three.
Undaunted, the Bartlett Bears stepped up their play, took the final game 25-21, and took the Peninsula Challenge Title home until next year.
Consistent play from Mariners Sarah Manalisay, Chantrelle Cousins and Bailey Lowney earned the three Homer volleyballers a spot on the all-tournament team.
The Lady M's will host Skyview Friday at 4 p.m.
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