The University of Alaska Fairbanks    

GNAC honors Nanook

By RICHARD LARSON, Staff Writer

Playing in front of friends and family at Western Oregon on Sept. 25, Mallory Bergstrom had a rare off night, with just six kills, as the Nanooks were upset by the Wolves.

Since then, the junior outside hitter has been nearly flawless for the Nanooks. The Bend, Ore., native had 17 kills and 18 digs as the Nanooks pulled out a five-game win at Humboldt State on Oct. 27 then returned to Fairbanks last weekend and was an unstoppable force as the Nanooks swept Seattle University and beat Northwest Nazarene in four games to improve to 8-4 on the season and 5-2 in the conference.

Bergstrom hit at a .372 percentage against Seattle with 18 kills and only two errors on 43 attacks and she hit at a .354 percentage against Nazarene with 28 kills and five errors in 65 attacks. She also tallied 34 digs over the weekend.

The explosive weekend effort led to Bergstrom being named co-Great Northwest Player of the Week. Anchorage setter Kasey Kuelper shared the honor with Bergstrom after having a total of 128 assists in the Seawolves' two wins last weekend.

"Mallory had another tremendous weekend," UAF coach Phil Shoemaker said. "It just seems like she always does. We come to expect that from her. She gets kills, but when you are making virtually no errors, that is where you really rack up the points."

Bergstrom leads the Nanooks on the season with 204 kills (4.34 per game) and 193 digs (4.11 per game).

"I feel confident," Bergstrom said. "I feel just unstoppable. When I'm playing that game, I'm thinking, 'Let's see where I can put this ball where it can't get touched instead of just hitting it down the line.' It's awesome."

Bergstrom is the second Nanook honored by the GNAC this season. Carlin Smith was named the Player of the Week after the Nanooks defeated Anchorage in five games on Sept. 20.

UAF hits the road this week to face St. Martin's on Thursday and Central Washington on Friday.