Homer started the tournament in a tough bracket and lost three two-game matches to Service (15-25, 9-25), Bartlett (14-25, 18-25) and Cordova (16-25, 13-25).
In bronze pool play Saturday, Homer found its stride beating Lathrop, Monroe Catholic and Seward before losing to Valdez.
Head Volleyball Coach Beth Trowbridge said the girls picked up their play on Saturday, but Valdez gave the Mariners trouble.
“They played great defense and challenged our hitters to find holes and we struggled with that,” Trowbridge said. “They covered their hitters extremely well and we had trouble keeping our attacks out of the middle of the court.”
The Mariners took on Valdez in the championship match and played some of their best volleyball of the year, Trowbridge said, but Valdez’s play at the net eventually stifled the Mariners defense.
“We came out very strong in the first game and played like a well-oiled machine,” Trowbridge said.
Rachael Bornheimer had seven kills in the match and Reba Temple had five.
Temple added 11 block attempts and Brittney VanSandt scored three aces.
“Overall I was very pleased with our play and the way the girls challenged themselves to try offensive plays, adjust their shots and step up their defense,” Trowbridge said. “I think we are much more confident now and our defense has really picked up. We are playing very scrappy.”
Temple led the team with 39 kills over the weekend and Bornheimer led the team with 17 solo blocks on 47 attempts.
Emily Luebbert contributed 18 kills, six aces and a team high 52 digs.
The Mariners host Palmer Friday and Colony Saturday.
Ben Stuart can be reached at ben.stuart@homernews.com.
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