A new state championship banner will be hung in the Unalaska High School gym, and it will be the first time a girls sports team is featured on the gym wall as a state champion.
The Unalaska Raiders girls volleyball team defeated the Susitna Valley Rams three matches to zero on Saturday, claiming their victory as the 2A Alaska State champions. They returned to Unalaska Monday, parading across the island in a procession of fire trucks, an ambulance and a local police squad car, showing off their trophy.
High school senior and volleyball team captain Kristal Tacata said she can’t think of a better way to end her senior year career.
“It's a really big deal to put a banner on the wall and just bring back the school spirit,” Tacata said. “Because I think that sports bring everyone together. So this banner, now, it brought the whole community together.”
The parade ended at the Norwegian Rat Saloon, where around 70 Unalaskans showed up to celebrate the team’s history-making victory.
While some girls sports teams have made it to the state playoffs, Superintendent Kim Hanisch said school records show that this is the very first time a girls team has claimed the championship title.
Tacata and her team were undefeated in the state tournament, winning all of their matches, and losing just one single set to Wrangell.
Junior Ula Leaoa was named best hitter at the state competition. Sophomore Hazel Basilio received the award for best defensive specialist. Basilio and Tacata were also named to the all-tournament team.
Tacata said she’s been playing volleyball since sixth grade, but the state tournament felt different. She said she felt a mix of emotions, but nerves were running extra high.
“I was just trying to take all the emotions in because this would be my last time playing with my team,” Tacata said.
Head Coach Joni Scott said the team worked hard to get that trophy. She said everything aligned perfectly during the state tournament over the weekend, which was held at Palmer High School.
“The girls worked wonderfully together,” Scott said. “The atmosphere and the gym was great. We had a bunch of fans come out from Unalaska, and fans that live in the area came out to support us at every single game, and the crowd was going wild, so it helped build up our energy.”
Scott said one of the reasons she thinks the athletes succeeded was because they had extra playing time and time for team building this year, taking longer trips to travel and compete than past years.
“This year, we got more games than I have ever known us to get because we did the [longer] trips,” she said. “We got a lot more games in. And that was really fortunate. So when we went into the state [tournament], we were higher up in the bracket, which helped just build momentum. And all the girls just work so well together. Their team chemistry is amazing.”
The team is graduating three seniors this year: Tacata, Jenelle Remolino and Grace Tolai. Scott said they’ve still got plenty of talent and will approach next season with the same goal as this year: make it to state.
This story includes reporting contributions from Sofia Stuart-Rasi.
