The University of Alaska Fairbanks    

UAF falls flat against alum team

By RICHARD LARSON, Staff Writer

Age and desire defeated youth and aptitude on Saturday as a determined team of Nanook alumni beat a sleep-walking University of Alaska Fairbanks volleyball team 27-30, 30-26, 30-26, 28-30 and 17-15 in an exhibition match at the UAF Patty Center.

Former UAF assistant coach Dave Dershin had 27 kills and 19 digs; Tara Hollenbeck added 17 kills and seven ace serves; and Jen Medl had 53 assists, seven ace serves and 15 digs to lead the UAF Alumni.

"It's so much fun. I miss the game so much," said Hollenbeck, who played for the Nanooks from 1998-2001. "It has been my passion for so long; it felt good to be back in a serious competition again."

While Hollenbeck and the rest of the alumni showed hustle and fire, the other side of the net was less passionate throughout the match.

"It was an embarrassment," UAF coach Phil Shoemaker said. "I wish I had a reason; maybe it was the fact that these weren't real games. The alumni played well, but our performance was inexcusable."

Hollenbeck added, "It really looked like they didn't take it seriously. It didn't seem important to them. We had a lot more fire. At times their fire showed, but it wasn't consistent."

The 2003 Nanooks also lost in four games to the Fairbanks Flyers, a power coed team, on Friday. The two exhibition matches were supposed to help UAF prepare for this Friday's match against defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Western Washington. Instead they left Shoemaker looking for answers.

"As a coach, this is the worst I've felt in a long time," Shoemaker said. "It's effort and consistency. Right now we're not very good."

Hollenbeck said, "It was kind of bittersweet. I love to win, but it is kind of hard to beat your own team. I'll be cheering for them next week, definitely."

Ruth Pomeroy (played 1992-95) added eight kills and seven total blocks for the alumni. Sarah Wolf (2000) had eight kills. Yvonne McHenry (1980-83), Sovanny Ebbeson (1991-94), Melanie Hinzman (1979), Kimber Jones (2000-01) and Jen Ostnes (1992) completed the alumni squad.

Junior Mallory Bergstrom led the Nanooks with 16 kills and 15 digs. Freshman Katie Tobiasz added 12 kills. Senior Candice Smith had 11 kills, nine digs and four total blocks; freshman Danielle Hitzeman added 10 kills and 18 digs'; and freshman Jessica Clemons had 53 assists and 11 digs. Clemons, Smith and Tobiasz each had three service aces.