The Nikiski and Kenai Central volleyball teams took the top seeds after Friday pool play at the 18th annual Shayna Pritchard Memorial Volleyball Tournament.

The Kardinals, winners of the last five Pritchard titles, triumphed in Pool 1 by splitting with Homer with a 25-20 win and 25-20 loss, and sweeping Palmer 25-23 and 28-26.

The Bulldogs, seeking their first tourney title since winning a second-straight title in 2018, defeated Seward 25-15 and 25-18, and split with Monroe Catholic.

In Pool 1, Palmer was second after defeating Homer 25-20 and 25-12. The Mariners were third.

In Pool 2, the Rams were second after defeating Seward 25-8 and 25-16. The Seahawks were third.

The pool play was used to seed a Saturday bracket.

In the first round, Palmer plays Seward at 9:30 a.m. and Monroe plays Homer at 10:45 a.m. The losers play for fifth place at 2:30 p.m.

The Palmer-Seward winner plays Nikiski at noon, while the Monroe-Homer winner plays Kenai at 1:15 p.m. The winners of those matches play for the crown at 5 p.m., while the losers play for third place at 3:45 p.m.

The tournament honors Shayna Pritchard, who played volleyball and basketball for the Bulldogs and was killed in a car accident in Colorado in 2007. Half of the tournament proceeds go to the Shayna Pritchard Scholarship Fund.

Soldotna sweeps Kodiak

The visiting Soldotna volleyball team notched a 25-13, 25-19 and 25-15 Northern Lights Conference victory over Kodiak on Friday.

The Stare improve to 1-0 in the league and 3-0 in nonconference play.

Teagen Kobylarz had 22 assists, 11 digs and five aces for the Stars, while Cassidy Kruse had nine kills, two blocks and four aces.

Morgan Simac added 10 kills and three blocks.