Volleyball opens road slate with tough tests in Hawaii
September 5, 2012
The Alaska women's volleyball team opens its road schedule this week as it travels down to Hawaii for a three-pack of matches, including one against a nationally-ranked opponent.
The Nanooks (2-1) first take on Chaminade (1-3) on Thursday at 9 p.m., followed by a 9:30 p.m. meeting on Friday night at No. 16 BYU-Hawaii (2-2) They will wrap up the road trip Saturday at 7 p.m. against Hawaii Pacific (3-1), which is receiving votes in the latest national poll.
Alaska won two of three matches to open the regular season last weekend at the Flint Hills Resources Nanook Classic. It picked up a 3-2 victory against Findlay and a 3-1 win against Notre Dame de Namur before falling 3-1 to Cal State East Bay.
Freshman setter Katlyn Mataya tallied 118 assists on the weekend, including a pair of 42-set performances in the two wins. She averaged 9.08 assists per set while also contributing seven kills, seven service aces, 25 digs and two blocks to be named to the Nanook Classic All-Tournament Team.
Freshmen outside hitters Sam Harthun and Ixchelle Oleson also turned in solid efforts on the attack. Harthun had a team-high 34 kills and hit .211 (34-15-90) on the week, while also producing 8.7 digs per match. Oleson wasn't far behind with 29 kills but she did lead the offense with a .359 (29-6-64) hitting percentage for the week, including a stellar .632 (13-1-19) against NDNU.
All three of this week's opponents for the Nanooks are return opponents from a year ago when they traveled to Honolulu to open the 2011 season. Chaminade downed Alaska 3-2, HPU won in straight sets and BYU-H took a 3-1 victory. However, the 'Nooks defeated all three teams in 2009, dropping just two sets in the three road wins.
Match #4: Alaska at Chaminade – Thursday, Sept. 6 at 9 p.m. (AKDT)
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Chaminade went 1-3 at home last week, picking up a 3-1 victory against Montana State-Billings, before falling in the next three matches to Seattle Pacific (1-3), No. 24 Sonoma State (0-3) and Fresno Pacific (0-3). The Swords were led by Kim Spring, who contributed 43 kills and 43 digs, while Crystal Powell had 40 terminations.
Match#5: Alaska at #16 BYU-Hawaii – Friday, Sept. 7 at 9:30 p.m. (AKDT)
BYU-Hawaii went 2-2 last weekend at the Concordia-St. Paul Tournament in Minnesota. The Seasiders took victories from No. 10 Hillsdale (3-0) and Regis (3-1), while falling to top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul (0-3) and sixth-ranked Southwest Minnesota State (1-3). BYU-H was led offensively by Shih Ting Chen, who had 68 kills, while Lauren Hagemeyer had 50 kills and 14 blocks. Other top performers included Jacqueline Swarbick (21 blocks) and Ying Chun Chen (161 assists and 6 blocks).
Match #6: Alaska at Hawaii Pacific – Saturday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. (AKDT)
Hawaii Pacific is receiving votes in this week's AVCA Division II Coaches Poll after going 3-1 at home last weekend. The Sea Warriors defeated No. 24 Sonoma State (3-2), Montana State-Billings (3-0) and Seattle Pacific (3-0) before losing in five sets to Fresno Pacific (2-3). They were led by Amanda Moriarty and Sanoe Recca, who paced the offense with 41 and 39 kills, respectively. Phinanakealoha Kea contributed 143 assists while the defense was led by Chelsey Buyuan, who had 69 digs.