The Unalaska Raiders made a strong showing this weekend at two state championship tournaments in Anchorage.

The girls’ volleyball team overcame an early loss against Koliganek to shut out Hooper Bay. The Raiders notched another victory against Kenny Lake, finishing in fourth place overall.

Unalaska has been a strong performer in the 2A Borealis conference over the last few years. The Raiders took second place in 2013 after a hard-fought game against Su Valley. But Su Valley was absent from the state finals this weekend. The championship title went to Klawock.

Across town, four Unalaska wrestlers were also competing for a shot at a state title -- and gaining valuable experience.

It was the first time that freshman John Khongsuk or sophomore Trey Henning appeared at state. Henning took sixth place wrestling at 152 pounds.

Coach Kevin Ley says that's a tough category, since it tends to be filled by older athletes.

"They’re juniors and seniors and [Henning] is just as a sophomore," Ley says. "And as a sophomore, placing at state is a pretty big deal."

While his fellow Raiders didn’t place, sophomore N.J. Seman did win a match in the 170-pound class. And senior Renzel Hoover finished his career at 195 pounds.

But he's the only wrestling graduating from Unalaska this year -- leaving a young team. 

"We’re gonna get in the weight room and we’ve got to get bigger and stronger and faster, obviously," Ley says. "But I think that all of these kids have a legitimate shot of going to state tournament next year."

This was Ley’s first year in charge of the Raiders since longtime coach Steven Gregory retired. While he’s looking forward to making improvements, Ley says his current focus is making sure the Raiders get some rest. They won’t resume training until after the holidays.