The University of Alaska Fairbanks    

UAF spikes victory over Crusaders

By ERIC GOOLD, For The News-Miner

For the second consecutive night, the University of Alaska Fairbanks volleyball team put on a strong showing for the home fans at the Patty Center, as the Nanooks took a four-game victory from visiting Northwest Nazarene, beating the Crusaders 30-25, 30-21, 29-31, 30-19.

"Maybe we just feel more comfortable on our home court," said UAF senior Candice Smith, who finished with seven kills and 15 digs in the match. "It's nice to have a great crowd behind us at home."

The win was the fourth consecutive victory for UAF at the Patty Center. The Nanooks maintained their position of second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, raising their conference record to 5-2 and their overall mark to 8-4.

"Sure," said head coach Phil Shoemaker when asked if the young Nanooks are starting to form an identity as the season hits its halfway mark. "Any time you win and keep adding to it, you get some confidence."

Candice Smith broke open a close first game with a long kill that propelled UAF to a 12-8 lead. UAF loosened up as the game wore on and the Crusaders cut the lead to 28-24 before the Nanooks used a timeout and a kill from junior Mallory Bergstrom to lock up the game.

Bergstrom had an outstanding match, leading all hitters with 28 kills, 21 digs and three aces. UAF had 25 more kills (75-50) and 25 more sets (67-42) in the match.

"Our attack wasn't as sharp as it was last night," said Shoemaker, referring to UAF's sweep of Seattle University Friday. "It's hard to compare them. We can make better choices, as far as who we set it to and where we set it."

The Nanooks burst out of the gate in the second stanza as Candice Smith served to an 8-4 lead and another bomb from Bergstrom brought the score to 10-8 for UAF. Junior Carlin Smith crushed home a kill, freshman Katie Tobiasz had a block and a hit out of bounds by the Crusaders sent UAF ahead 25-15. Freshman Danielle Hitzeman closed out the game with a block.

The third frame was the most entertaining of the match, as UAF came out of the intermission a little tentative. The Crusaders capitalized and rolled to a 12-4 lead.

Then, down 16-10, Bergstrom almost single-handedly brought UAF back from the brink.

Hitting from the outside wing, she smashed three kills, tipped over a winner and keyed a six-point run that tied the score 16-16.

But it would not be enough, as NNU rallied to take the third game by two points. The Crusaders were led in the match by junior Lindsey Miller's 13 kills and senior Kaala Hanson's 10 kills and 17 digs.

After the stumble in Game 3, the Nanooks came out tough in Game 4 to secure the match.

"We wanted to start off Game 4 like we did the first couple of games," said Candice Smith. "Sometimes it's hard to compete after the letdown of the break (between games), and we wanted to get the momentum back."

Carlin Smith had a big block that gave UAF a 16-9 lead, then her ace made it 22-13. Freshman Jessica Clemons had two tips and two serves as the Nanooks completed the victory.

"Our effort was there, even if we did not execute to the level we expect," said Shoemaker. "It was good enough for tonight, but we're looking to go beyond this."

UAF hits the road for matches at St. Martin's in Lacey, Wash., on Thursday and at Central Washington in Ellensburg on Friday.

Eric Goold is a graduate student at UAF and a freelance writer.