FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team has announced their 2022 season schedule. This season's schedule will consist of 30 games, including the 2022 Nanook Classic, hosted on Sept. 1-3, 2022.
 
"This season's schedule, like last year, is full of tough regional and national opponents," said head coach Brian Scott, "We hope to put ourselves in a similar situation as last year to be considered for a spot in the NCAA tournament. With another home tournament this year, fans will have many opportunities to see this talented squad play against some great competition. As always, the GNAC is full of talented teams and each week we will have to prove ourselves against a great opponent. We look forward to the challenges and competition that our schedule presents."
 
The Nanooks will head to Hawaii to open up their 2022 campaign. They'll play four games in two days, squaring off with Chaminade, Hawaii Hilo and Hawaii Pacific. August 19 will be opening day as they'll open with Hilo before facing Chaminade later that night. On Aug. 20, they'll open with Hawaii Pacific before ending their trip with Chaminade one last time.  
 
Following their trip to the island of Oahu, the Nanooks will head to Anchorage for four games in three days. They'll open up with Point Loma on Thursday, Aug. 25 at the Alaska Airlines Center on the campus of UAA. This will be the first time playing PLNU since the 2018 season. Point Loma swept the Nanooks in that meeting, a neutral site matchup in San Rafael, Calif. On day two, Friday, Aug. 26, the Nanooks will face Emmanuel College. On the third and final day, Alaska will play twice. Game one will be against Lubbock Christian University at 9:00 a.m. before facing Pittsburg State University at 2:00 p.m.
 
Nanooks volleyball will officially come to town on Sept. 1 as they open up the 2022 Nanook Classic with Black Hills State at 7:30 p.m. in the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium in the Patty Center. The six-team tournament will see Alaska Anchorage, Arkansas Fort Smith, Black Hills State, Florida Southern College and Findlay. On Sept. 2, the Nanooks will face Florida Southern for the first time since Aug. 29, 2003, a neutral site matchup that ended in a 3-1 win for the Nanooks, their lone-win against Florida Southern. On the third day, the Nanooks will wrap up the Nanook Classic with Arkansas Fort Smith at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, their first ever matchup, before ending the weekend with the University of Findlay at 7:30 p.m. The last time Alaska faced Findlay was Aug. 31, 2012 in Fairbanks. The Nanooks picked up a five-set victory a decade ago.
 
Thursday, Sept. 8 marks the beginning of GNAC play. Alaska will open up conference play in the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center against Western Oregon at 7:00 p.m. Saint Martin's will then come to town on Saturday, Sept. 10 for a 2:00 p.m. matchup. Their first conference road trip will take them to the Emerald City where they'll face Seattle Pacific on Sept. 15 before heading to Big Sky country for a matchup with Montana State Billings on Sept. 17. The volleyball team will return for a three-game home stretch. They'll kick off the homestand with Simon Fraser on Thursday, Sept. 22 before matching up with the 2021 regular-season GNAC champs, Western Washington, on Saturday, Sept. 24. After a week, the Nanooks will welcome their in-state rivals, the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 2:00 p.m.
 
Oct. 6-8 will see the Nanooks head to Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington. A year ago the Nanooks swept the Nighthawks in straight-sets in both matchups. Against CWU, Alaska won their home matchup on Oct. 9, 2021 before falling on the road. 
 
Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific will come to Fairbanks on Oct. 13-15. The MSUB game is scheduled for an early 4:00 p.m. start on Thursday, Oct. 13 while the SPU game will be played at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15. The Nanooks will take to the road again, this time, heading to Bellingham, Wash. for a matchup with the WWU Vikings before jumping the border to Burnaby, British Columbia for a game with Simon Fraser. They'll stay on the road the next week, traveling south to Anchorage for their final rivalry game of 2022. They'll square up with Alaska Anchorage on Saturday, Oct. 29.
 
To start November, the 'Nooks will host CWU and NNU for their final home week. On Nov. 3 the Wildcats and Nanooks will battle at 7:00 p.m. in the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium. On Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022, the Nanooks and Nighthawks will play on Senior Day. Following the final home game, the Nanooks will take to Lacey, Wash. for a matchup with the Saint Martin's Saints on Nov. 10 before wrapping up the regular-season on Nov. 12 at Western Oregon.
 
The full season schedule can be found here.
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @AlaskaNanooksVB on Instagram, @NanooksVB on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.