The University of Alaska Fairbanks    

Nanooks earn 300th career win for Shoemaker

By DANNY MARTIN, Staff Writer

Its head coach reached a milestone and the University of Alaska Fairbanks volleyball team gained its second straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory in as many days Saturday evening at the Patty Center.

But a big injury put a damper on a 30-20, 23-30, 30-27, 30-27 triumph over Western Oregon that also gave Phil Shoemaker his 300th career coaching victory.

Shoemaker was presented the match ball by Cory Schwartz, UAF athletic director, in a postmatch ceremony before a boisterous crowd of 299.

But Shoemaker didn't make a big deal about the milestone that he achieved over 21 seasons, which includes 17 at NCAA Division I Wichita State and the last four at Division II UAF.

"The only one that's important is 301," said Shoemaker, "and it's not about the coach, it's about the kids. I enjoy it, this is my chosen profession and I love it. But the thing I love the most is the kids."

And one of those kids is junior middle blocker Carlin Smith, who went down with a knee injury in the second game. Smith had jumped to spike the ball--which went out to make the score 5-5--and she collapsed after landing.

Smith, who had registered four kills before then, was helped off the court by Masa Morita, UAF assistant athletic trainer.

Shoemaker said he didn't know the extent of the injury, but said she is scheduled to be examined this week. UAF also travels for conference matches Thursday at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho and Saturday at Seattle University.

"Carlin is such a central figure in our game," said Shoemaker, "and she is, in my opinion, the one player that we can always count on her to play her role extremely well."

The 6-foot-1 Smith is the No. 1 blocker (1.00 per game in 66 games) on the top blocking team (2.67 average in 67 games) in the GNAC--which was taking on the conference's second-best blocking team in Western Oregon (2.32 average in 77 games).

The Wolves of Monmouth, Ore., also feature the league's top individual blocker, Nikiski graduate Laura Berdahl, a junior middle blocker who's averaged 1.18 in 71 games. Berdahl had five total blocks Saturday night, the same output for UAF's Candice Smith (no relation to Carlin) and April Blandford.

Katie Tobiasz filled in for Carlin Smith, but it was a tough adjustment for the 6-1 freshman, and for the Nanooks overall, as the Wolves took advantage with hits to open spots to help win the second game.

"It's a position Katie has played," said Shoemaker, "but asking her to do the same things that Carlin does for us is a little rough for a freshman."

Tobiasz adjusted, contributing four total blocks and five kills to help the Nanooks raise their third-place record to 8-4 league and 11-6 overall.

"We really count on Carlin to do a good job in the middle for us, and we just had to step it up," Candice Smith said. "It took a couple of points--actually the whole game--for us to get used to not having Carlin there, but we had to really have our freshman step up and take a bigger role."

Tobiasz had support, as Candice Smith delivered a match-high 19 kills, Mallory Bergstrom followed with 17 and Danielle Hitzeman added 15. Bergstrom also had 17 digs while Crystal Wheelock and Candice Smith provided 10 each.

Jessica Clemons and Dasa Capova each had 20 assists for UAF, which overcame a tenacious defense by the eighth-place Wolves (4-10, 9-13), who registered 63 digs to UAF's 57. Sophomore outside hitter Samantha Krier had team highs of 17 digs and 17 kills, and a match-high five aces.

"We just had to open our eyes and hit around them," Candice Smith said. "We knew they were planting themselves in the deep corners; so, we had to place our shots and make tips."

After prevailing in a third game which featured 12 lead changes, UAF went on a 9-1 run in the fourth game to overcame a 25-21 deficit. Four straight kills by Bergstrom put UAF ahead 29-26 before Wolves senior Katie Grim interrupted UAF's momentum with her 11th kill of the night to make it 29-27.

The Nanooks won the match, and gained a split of the season series, with a net violation by the Wolves as Tobiasz was tipping the ball.

Western Oregon, which also got 15 kills and 14 digs from Amanda Heaton and respective assists of 28 and 23 from Amy Tyler and Sarah Entemann, swept UAF in Monmouth on Sept. 25. The Wolves came to Fairbanks from a three-game loss Friday night at Alaska Anchorage.

Besides helping Shoemaker reach a milestone and overcoming Carlin Smith's injury, the Nanooks were also trying to return to a top-six ranking in the West Region. The region's top six teams qualify for the Division II Tournament.

UAF was ranked ninth coming into the weeknd, which started with Friday night's 30-24, 30-19, 26-30, 30-28 victory over Humboldt State of California before 276 at the Patty Center.

"We like pressure ... we take every game as our championship game," said Bergstrom. "We like the pressure but sometimes we give ourselves a little too much."