The University of Alaska Fairbanks    

UAF road to success begins in Pomona

by RICHARD LARSON, Staff Writer, Fairbanks Daily News Miner

The start of the season is just around the corner for the University of Alaska Fairbanks volleyball team, and the Nanooks have the talent to improve on last season's 16-7 overall record and second-place finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. But most of that talent in unproven, as six freshmen attempt to mesh with the six returning Nanooks.

"We have got a young team with a huge amount of talent," UAF coach Phil Shoemaker said.

How well that talent translates into on-court performance will be determined this weekend when the Nanooks head to California to open the season in the Cal Poly Pomona Invitational. UAF will face Florida Southern, Cal State Los Angeles, Chaminade and Cal Poly Pomona during tournament play on Friday and Saturday, then travel to a game at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sept 1 to complete its California road trip. (NOTE: In the American Volleyball Coaches Association national pre-season poll Cal State Los Angeles is ranked 23rd, Chaminade is 32nd and Florida Southern is 33rd.)

"There are so many unknowns, but I'm really looking forward to our trip south," Shoemaker said. "Definitely I think it has a chance to be a very exciting trip."

A lack of matches against regional teams outside the conference hurt the Nanooks when it came time to pick teams for the NCAA West Regional last year. With four of the five matches on their road trip coming against West Region schools, the Nanooks' post-season chances this year could be affected greatly by how they perform this week.

"There is no question regarding their importance," Shoemaker said. "There are possible post-season implications. Half the team is first-year players and the game will be very different for them. The speed of the game is a lot faster, the level of play is higher and the cost of mistakes is magnified. There is an awful lot this team can do to improve, but there are also times where you are looking at what they are doing on the court in practice and it is better than we've done in the past."

Candice Smith, the lone senior on the Nanooks said, "Because of what happened last year, this is a great opportunity for us. We haven't played in a tournament like this one since I've been here. It should be great to start off on the road and bond as a team."

The Nanooks will have had three weeks of practices before they hit the court in California and the players are interested in seeing how their play will match up against opposing teams.

"We're ready to use what we've learned," Smith said. "It will be nice to see how it works against another team. I know how Mallory (Bergstrom) hits and she knows how I hit. Everybody knows what everyone's best hits are and what works well, it will be nice to go against somebody else."

UAF has been hurt by the loss of freshman Dasa Capova, who was expected to be the team's starting setter. On the second day of practice a stress fracture was discovered in her ankle. The ankle was originally injured at an earlier date, but the fracture wasn't found until after a hard day of practice.

"She will be out four to six weeks," Shoemaker said. "We had a couple of intense first days of practice and that is when we found out about it."

Freshman setter Jessica Clemons and sophomore Kayleen Stenehjem, who redshirted last year, will take over the setting duties to start the season.

"I think Jessica and Kayleen are doing fine. We would love to have Dasa out there; that's what we recruited her to do, but we will be fine with Jessica and Kayleen," Shoemaker said.

The Nanooks should have at least a small core of fans to cheer them on in California as UAF junior Carlin Smith and freshmen Danielle Hitzeman and Jessica Clemons are from the state.

"Carlin has already left and is down there with her family, Jessica is very close and Danielle's family is planning on coming down. We will also see (former Nanook) Jamie Schanback," Shoemaker said. "We'll have a little rooting section."

After the California road trip, the Nanooks return home to play exhibition games on Sept 5-6 at 7 p.m. They open their home season with a Sept 12 meeting against defending GNAC champion Western Washington.