PORTLAND, Ore. - The Great Northwest Athletic Conference has officially announced their 2022 GNAC Volleyball Preseason Poll.
Alaska was chosen to finish sixth-place, earning 50 points from voting coaches in the conference. Western Washington University was picked as the Preseason Champ, earning 98 points and nine of the 10 first-place votes. No other team in the GNAC earned more than 90 points. Central Washington came in second, earning 89 points. The final first-place vote went to Alaska Anchorage, who came in third in the Preseason Poll with 74 points and one first-place vote.
Simon Fraser came in fourth, receiving 70 points. Just ahead of Alaska, in the final top-five spot, was Seattle Pacific, who earned 61 points from votes. Alaska settled for sixth with 50 points, edging out Northwest Nazarene by seven points as the Nighthawks took seventh, with 43 points. Montana State Billings took eighth, earning 25 points. Saint Martin's took ninth with 22 points and Western Oregon rounded out the Preseason Poll with 18 points.
The Nanooks return seven from the 2021 roster. Marine Angely, Kinley Erickson, Elizabeth Jackson, Karli Nielson, Taylor Overn, Ainsley Smith and Rilee White all return to Fairbanks for the 2022 season. Angely, Erickson, Jackson and Overn combined for 62 sets played, 22 kills, 18 assists, 32 digs and 15 total blocks. Nielson played in 56 sets, starting in six of the 20 matches she saw time in, and posted 149 kills (2.66/set) on a .209 swing percentage. She added 15 service aces, 42 digs and 23 total blocks. White played in 101 of the Nanooks' 113 sets in the 2021 season and started 21 of the 29 matches she played in. She posted the fourth-most kills on the team with 213 (2.11/set) on a .135 swing percentage. She added 23 assists, 35 service aces, 210 digs (2.08/set) and 31 total blocks.
Head coach Brian Scott returns for his eighth season and looks to continue the success he's built in Fairbanks. Last season, his seventh year as head coach, saw the Nanooks win 18 games, their most since the 1996 season when Tim Brown led the Nanooks to an 18-14 record. In 2021, the Nanooks ended sixth in hitting percentage, swinging .190 as a team, first in opponent hitting percentage, forcing opponents to swing .161, fourth in assists, averaging 11.75 per set, fourth in kills, averaging 12.72 per set, third in blocks with 2.49 per set, second in service aces, averaging 1.78 per set and finally, fifth in digs with 15.84 per set.
The Nanooks will host their annual Blue/Gold Scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 13 at 2:00 p.m. and will officially kick-off their season in Hawaii on Friday, Aug. 19.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.
