FAIRBANKS - The Nanooks volleyball team has announced the addition of five signees for their upcoming 2024 season next fall. Coach Brian Scott announced the newcomers; a group that features two freshmen and three transfers. 

The first addition for the Nanooks is Haylee Lyons, a freshman outside-hitter hailing from Kaimuki, Hi. Lyons, a 5-9 hitter, will join the Nanooks after posting strong seasons with Kalani High School. While there, she earned a number of Region and All-State awards. In 2021, she was named All-OIA Eastern First Team alongside an All-Hawaii Honorable Mention selection. The following season she earned an All-OIA Eastern Second Team selection and added another All-Hawaii Honorable Mention honor. In 2023 she earned All-OIA Eastern First Team honors and was the Team/Floor Captain for 2023. Coach Scott is excited about Lyons joining the Nanooks and sees a lot of versatility out of the freshman, "Haylee is a great six rotation hitter, her ability to pass and defend the ball will be a huge advantage to our team. She elevates extremely well and has lots of different shots she can use to score. Most importantly, Haylee is a great person. She is very genuine and kind in everything she does. We can't wait to add her to the team this fall." 

Lyons is the daughter of Nicole Lyons and has one sibling; Thunder. She intends on studying business administration at UAF after earning Academic Honor Roll from 2020-23 in high school.

Signee number two is Tessa Onaga, a freshman transfer from Northeastern University. Onaga will join the Nanooks in the spring of 2024 and is a libero from Honolulu, Hi. Before attending Northeastern University, she played at 'lolani School. There she was named a 2022 HHSAA Girls Volleyball Division I Tournament Most Outstanding Player. In 2022 she also won the Division I State Championship, was a 2022 Honolulu Star Advertiser Fab 15 Hawaii State High School Volleyball selection and was a 2022 AVCA Girls High School Third Team All-American. She also added a 2022 SPECTRUM OC16 Impact Player honor at the State Finals and State Semifinals. She also helped her team earn third at the 17 Open Junior Volleyball Association World Challenge. Onaga will be a sophomore when joining the Nanooks and checks in as a 5-3 L/DS. She was second on the team at Northeastern with 173 total digs, good for 2.75 digs per set, also second on the team. She added 24 assists and 16 aces. Coach Scott had this to say on Onaga's signing, "We are excited to have Tessa join us this spring. She is a skilled libero and has proven at Northeastern she is efficient in serve receive and a talented defender. Her skill set will fit in well with our talented group of liberos."

Onaga is the daughter of Kory Onaga, who played volleyball at Pacific Lutheran University, and will study civil engineering at UAF. She earned Headmaster's List and Honor Roll honors.

The third signee for the Nanooks volleyball team is Rachel Pierce. Pierce joins the Nanooks after a four-year stint at the University of Toledo. She is a 6-2 outside-hitter who hails from Rockbridge, Ohio. While at Toledo, she played in 181 sets and 68 matches. She tallied a career-total of 226 kills for 1.25 per set. She picked up 201 career digs, had 67 total blocks, had 19 aces and 15 assists. 2021 was a career-year for Pierce as she had 142 kills in 98 sets played. She picked up 99 digs, had 46 total blocks, seven solo, had 10 aces and assists. She played in 32 matches that season, also a career-high. Pierce attended Logan High School and while there was named to the All-SEOAL Team in 2015. She was the District 13 Offensive Player of the Year for 2017-18, and was an All-Ohio District 13 Representative in 2018. She also posted some AAU accolades at the 16U and 17U level. For both the 16/17U teams, she was named to the Nationals All-Star Team while being a 16U AAU Nationals Runner-Up before being an AAU Nationals Champion at the U17 level. Coach Scott spoke highly of Pierce and the depth she'll bring as a veteran, "Rachel will add some great depth to our outside hitter position. She is a veteran hitter that has a wide range of shots and a deep skill set. Her height will make her a threat and presence at the net immediately, and her ability to play six rotations will be an asset as we develop our team this fall. She has experience playing at a high level of volleyball and will be a great addition to our talented team."

Pierce is the daughter of Kirk and Debra Pierce. Her mom, Debra, played volleyball at Wright State University. She has three siblings; Henry, Simon and Natalie and Henry is on the football and track and field teams at Ohio Dominican University. Pierce will study Security and Disaster Management at UAF. In high school she was a 2015-19 Logan High School Honor Roll honoree and at Toledo she earned Academic All-Conference honors from 2019-22. 

Larissa Barreiros Scatamburlo is the fourth signee for the Nanooks heading into 2024. She is a transfer from Indian Hills Community College. Scatamburlo is an opposite/outside-hitter who is listed at 5-11 and hails from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, she was named a 2023 NJCAA All-Region 11 First-Team selection. In her two seasons she played in 81 matches and 243 sets. She had 557 career kills, including a career-high 381 in 2022. She added a .232 swing percentage, 365 career digs, 105 blocks and 2.6 points per set. 2022 was a career-year for Scatambrulo as she played in 44 matches, posted 381 kills, a 2.49 kills per set, .261 swing percentage, 336 digs, 82 blocks and 15 aces. Coach Scott is excited to add Scatamburlo to the rotation, "Larissa will be a great addition to our team. She is a passionate volleyball player that works very hard on the court and in the classroom. She has excelled as a six rotation athlete and will bring additional depth to our great group of hitters. We are very excited to add another international student athlete to our group."

She is the daughter of Flávia and Cláudio and has one sibling; Diogo. Diogo played volleyball at Sorbonne University in France. She was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She was a Fall 2022, Winter 2022, Spring 2023 and Fall 2023 President's List honoree and was also a Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 First Team Academic All-Region selection. She intends on studying biology when arriving at UAF. 

The fifth and final signee for the Nanooks is Ashlyn White, the younger sister of current Nanook, Rilee White. The 5-8 setter hails from Goodyear, Ariz. and will be an incoming freshman in the fall of 2024. During high school, she played her school volleyball at The Odyssey Institute for Advanced and International Studies and played her club volleyball for Arizona Storm Elite VBC. While in high school, she earned three-straight years of All-Region honors. She was named to three-straight First Team All-Region teams from 2021-23 while also being named the 2023 Region Player of the Year while also adding an All-Conference Honorable Mention honor. Coach Scott is looking forward to seeing the sister connection in Fairbanks and is looking forward to the talent White brings, "We are really excited to add Ashlyn to our program. She is a very talented setter that knows how to run an offense. Like her sister she played volleyball at a high level with one of the best clubs in AZ. Having her sister on our team has allowed us to get to know her over the past several years and we can't wait to add her to our group."

White is the daughter of Zach and Traci White and has two siblings; Rilee and Halle. Her dad, Zach, played baseball at Grand Canyon University, her mom, Traci, played volleyball at Arizona State and Grand Canyon University, her sister Halle played soccer at the University of Jamestown and her other sister, Rilee, is still on the team with the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team. White earned the Principal's List honor from 2020-24 and intends on studying civil engineering at UAF. 

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