Jan. 22, 2007
FAIRBANKS, AK -Alaska Nanooks head volleyball coach Phil Shoemaker announced the 2007 field of the Auto Service Company Nanook Classic Monday afternoon. The NCAA Division II tournament will be held in Fairbanks, Friday, August 31 and Saturday, September 1, at the Patty Center on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The tournament host Nanooks will welcome the Hawaii-Hilo Vulcans of the Pacific West Conference, the Humboldt State Lumberjacks of the California Collegiate Athletic Association and the West Florida Argonauts of the Gulf South Conference.
"We've got another great tournament field set," said Shoemaker. "One of the things I think the fans and community will enjoy again with this field is the geographic diversity of the teams involved."
Hawaii-Hilo is led by assistant coach Angie Andrade-Morioka, who completed her first season with the Vulcans in 2006, guiding them to a 5-16 overall record and a 3-12 conference mark. The Vulcans, who rostered only two seniors last season, will rely on the play of their top returners in outside hitter Desarri Oleavo, who averaged 2.53 kills per game and 3.73 digs per game, and sophomore outside hitter/middle hitter Kaniu Hernandez, who delivering 2.2 kpg and 2.2 dpg last season.
Humboldt State, a former rival of Alaska's in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, finished 9-15 overall and 6-14 in its first season as a member of the CCSA. Fifth-year head coach Sue Woodstra will only have to replace three seniors from last year's team and returns her top four offensive players, as well as a pair of setters that split time on the court in 2006. The `Jacks top offensive threat, outside hitter Katie Norkunas, averaged 2.85 kpg and 3.38 dpg.
Hawaii-Hilo and Humboldt State, along with Alaska, are members of the NCAA West Region.
"It's important to get matches against other West Region teams. It gives us a good sense of where we stand before we get to our conference schedule," added Shoemaker.
West Florida, the official host of the 2006 NCAA Division II Volleyball Championships, is led by fifth-year head coach Melissa Wolter. The Argonauts will face some diversity after graduating six seniors from the 2006 squad. The Argos went 20-15 and 9-3 in GSC play last season and made it to the semi-finals of the South Central Region playoffs in the NCAA tournament. West Florida's key returners include middle hitters Danielle Spitzer and defensive specialist Jerica Carter. Spitzer was third on the team in kills per game and tied for first in blocks per game with 2.3 and 1.02, respectively. Carter led the team in digs per game with 4.41 and service aces per game with 0.54.
"West Florida is going to bring a good team up and it's a great way for us to start our home schedule," said Shoemaker.
Alaska rebounded this season after winning only one match in 2005 to go 7-16 overall and 6-10 in the GNAC, good for a sixth-place finish. Although it was the second losing season the Nanooks have faced since Shoemaker came to Fairbanks in 2000, they lost just one senior and will look to gain stability from a solid group of veteran players. That core group is led by outside/middle hitter Megan Thigpen (Spokane, WA) the 2006 GNAC Freshman of the Year and team MVP. Thigpen led Alaska in almost every statistical category notching 3.05 kpg, 0.56 service aces per game and 3.67 dpg. Rounding out Alaska's core is middle hitter Korlyn Bolster (Guerneville, CA) had 2.16 kpg and 1.09 bpg and setter Alexa Sherman (Calabasas, CA) 8.93 assists per game and 2.4 dpg.
The tournament follows a round-robin format. The first session will open with West Florida taking on Humboldt State at 6:00 p.m. prior to Alaska's match against Hawaii-Hilo at 8:00 p.m. Saturday there are two sessions and Alaska faces West Florida at 11:00 a.m. before Hawaii-Hilo and Humboldt State at 1:00 p.m in the second session. Saturday night features the third and final session with Hawaii-Hilo squaring off against West Florida at 6:00 p.m. and Alaska meeting Humboldt State at 8:00 p.m.
