Volleyball opens GNAC play at home this week
September 12, 2012
Jamie Foland
474-6807
The Alaska volleyball team opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this week as it entertains Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington at the Patty Center.
The Nanooks (2-4) first take on the Crusaders (6-3) Thursday evening, followed by a Saturday night match-up against the Wildcats (5-3). First serve is set for 7 p.m. in both contests. Live stats and live video is available for both matches.
“It will be exciting,” head coach Phil Shoemaker said. “They are both really good, physical, strong, fundamentally-coached teams. It's going to be a huge challenge but we're looking forward to it.”
Last weekend, the 'Nooks went 0-3 in Hawaii, as they fell 3-1 to both Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific and 3-0 to No. 16 BYU-Hawaii. Alaska was led offensively by freshman outside hitter/opposite Ixchelle Oleson and senior outside hitter Reilly Stevens. Oleson had a team-high 39 kills while Stevens posted 32 terminations, 21 digs and five blocks. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Britt Glaeser made her first three career starts and hit a team-best .444 while making 15 kills and six blocks.
“They both put up good offensive numbers,” Shoemaker noted of Oleson and Glaeser. “They're physical, really nice athletes and have a knack for putting the ball away and that's certainly something every coach looks for.”
Freshman setter Katlyn Mataya tallied 119 assists, including a season-high 44 at Chaminade, and also contributed 21 digs, six kills and a block. The back court was paced by senior libero Allison Oddy with 42 digs and a pair of service aces.
Match #7: Northwest Nazarene at Alaska – Thursday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. (AKDT)
Important Links: LIVE STATS LIVE VIDEO
Northwest Nazarene went 3-2 last week, which included a 2-2 split at the Route 92 Showdown in California. The Crusaders notched wins against Notre Dame de Namur (3-0), Humboldt State (3-0) and Cal State East Bay (3-2) while falling to Cal Baptist (2-3) and Fresno Pacific (0-3). Becky Flores led the way for NNU with 66 kills and a .422 hitting percentage while also tallying five service aces and 14 blocks to earn All-Tournament honors.
Match #8: Central Washington at Alaska – Saturday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. (AKDT)
Important Links: LIVE STATS LIVE VIDEO
Central Washington split in California at the Seawolf Spike last weekend, defeating Cal State Stanislaus (3-0) and No. 25 UC San Diego (3-1) before losing to both Chico State and No. 23 Sonoma State by the count of 3-1. The Wildcats were paced offensively by Erin Smith, who tallied 39 kills and 15 blocks while hitting .419. Defensively, CWU was led by Katie Fry, who had a team-high 19 blocks as well as 20 digs while averaging 8.64 assists per set. Fry also hit .281 and contributed 11 kills in the front court.