Shoemaker Preview Video
Oleson & Glaeser Preview Video
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – 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, who are receiving votes in this week's AVCA Coaches Poll, 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.
