University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

FAIRBANKS – As the volleyball season closes, the men's and women's basketball team's open up competitive play and the swimming team is back with a pair of dual meets, in what is another action packed weekend for Nanook athletics.

The Alaska volleyball team opens the weekend with a 7:00 p.m. match against No. 15 nationally ranked Western Washington on Thursday night at the Patty Center before closing out the festivities with a 7:00 p.m. Senior Night match against Simon Fraser on Saturday. The team's lone senior, Tessa Butterfield, will also be honored on Saturday.

Then, on Friday and Saturday both the men's and women's basketball teams will be in action, with the women tipping off its regular season on Friday in a 5:15 p.m. matchup against Chaminade University (Hawaii) and a 3:15 p.m. Saturday meeting against Holy Names (Calif.). The men play at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday in a pair of exhibition games against Trinity International (Ill.)

On both Friday and Saturday the Nanook swimming team also competes against California State East Bay in a Pacific Collegiate Swim & Dive Conference meeting.

Volleyball

Looking to end the season on a positive note, the Nanooks take on the No. 15 ranked Vikings of Western Washington on Thursday and the Clan of Simon Fraser on Saturday.

In the previous meetings this campaign, Alaska lost in straight sets to both opponents, falling in British Columbia on Sept. 16 and in Washington on Sept. 18, opening up Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.

Riley Podowicz is looking to close out an impressive rookie campaign in strong fashion. She currently leads the Nanooks with a .248 hitting percentage (115 kills / 294 attempts) and is also tops on the team in service aces (22) and blocks (55).

Sam Harthun leads the Nanooks with 327 kills and 213 digs while Miranda Grieser has a team-high 630 assists.

Saturday's game will serve as senior night, where Tessa Butterfield, the team's sole senior, will be honored. This season, Butterfield is second on the team with 202 digs while also contributing 11 service aces, 20 kills and 29 assists.

For her career, Butterfield has 468 digs (2.64 per set), 32 kills, 73 assists and 32 aces.

Western Washington Player to Watch: Kayla Erickson.

Erickson leads the team in all the major net categories including kills (334), points (393), hitting percentage (.310) and blocks (94).

Simon Fraser Player to Watch: Brooklyn Bradbury-Gould.

Bradbury-Gould serves as the team's primary setter and leads the team with 620 assists while also contributing 18 service aces and a team-high .405 attack percentage (though, only in 37 total attempts).
 
Women's Basketball

Competing in the GNAC/PAC West Challenge for the first season, the Alaska Nanooks take on Chaminade and Holy Names to open the 2014-15 campaign.

"We want to start the season strong," said head coach Cody Bench. "We ended last year playing well, and we want to pick up from there with the new team, especially in front of our home fans."

Last season, the Nanooks competed against Chaminade in Honolulu, Hawaii as part of a trip to open up the season, and earned a 76-60 victory.

"This season, we'll have the home court advantage, and we need to capitalize on that," continued Bench. "Chaminade's team is very similar to last season, so we will be prepared for them."

On Saturday, the Nanooks will face Holy Names, a team that the Nanooks have not faced since prior to the 2006 season.

Both games will be available for a free stream at this link and live stats of each event will be available here.

Men's Basketball

Alaksa tips off against Trinity International twice this weekend as it prepares for the start of the regular season at the GCI Alaska Invitational next weekend.

"Trinity plays in a very good conference and has ten guys back this season, so it will be a great experience for us," said head coach Mick Durham. "They have a talented point guard in Justin Peeples and a solid inside guy in Nate Ball."

Coach Durham is looking forward to seeing what his team, which features 12 new additions to the roster, has to offer in the first two competitive games of the season.

"I want to see how well they compete, especially with so many new guys," stated the coach.  "We will also be looking for how they handle adversary and different combinations offensively and defensively."

Trinity International has played four regular season games, already, and have posted a record of 1-3.

Both games will be available for a free stream at this link and live stats of each event will be available here.

Swimming

The swim team is back in the pool after nearly a month between competitions in a pair of meets against California State East Bay on Friday and Saturday.

On October 17-18, the Nanook swimmers earned back-to-back 117-88 wins over PCSC foes, Azusa Pacific.

In the wins over Azusa Pacific, Alaska produced a number of nationally ranked performances in its two meet sweep of Azusa Pacific this past weekend. The Nanooks had four relay teams crack the top-fifteen in Division II while nine individual times broke into the top-30 nationally.

Friday's meet is set for 6:00 p.m. with Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m.