The University of Alaska Fairbanks    

Nanook netters hope road leads to playoffs

By BOB ELEY, Sports Editor

The Nanooks hope to take another couple of steps toward their goal of reaching the postseason tonight and Saturday when they take on Northwest Nazarene and Seattle University in Great Northwest Conference Volleyball action.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks (11-6 overall 8-4 GNAC) is in third place in the GNAC standings behind unbeaten Western Washington (19-1, 13-0) and Seattle (13-7, 9-4). UAF faces a must-win situation every time it takes the court if it wants to have a shot at earning a trip to the NCAA Division II West Regional next month.

The Nanooks are currently ranked ninth in the West and the top six teams earn trips to the playoffs, so things aren't going to be easy considering they have four of their final six games on the road. Those include a season-ending match at Western Washington, which has never lost a GNAC match.

UAF kept its playoff hopes alive with wins over Humboldt State and Western Oregon last week, but the team will be without the services of 6-foot-1 junior middle blocker Carlin Smith, who suffered a knee injury in Saturday's win over Western Oregon.

"We're going to have to have everyone pick up their game a bit to compensate for the loss of Carlin," UAF coach Phil Shoemaker said prior to the team's departure for Nampa, Idaho, for tonight's match with Northwest Nazarene.

Katie Tobiasz, a 6-1 freshman from Rocky River, Ohio, will be called upon to fill in for Smith, who remained in Fairbanks to rehabilitate her knee with the hopes of playing next weekend.

"Katie will do a good job, but she's not at Carlin's level just yet so everyone will have to pitch in," Shoemaker said.

The Nanooks beat both teams in Fairbanks earlier in the season, but Shoemaker is expecting things to be much tougher for the Nanooks on the road.

Shoemaker, who earned his 300th career coaching win last weekend, said the Nanooks have to maintain the cohesive play they displayed last weekend in order to be successful on this trip.

"We've been making a lot fewer errors and that's something that needs to continue," Shoemaker said. "If we can continue to battle the way we have been lately and maintain our strong offensive presence then we should continue to have success

"There's no reason why we can't continue both of those things," he added.

The Nanooks beat Northwest Nazarene (9-13, 6-7) in four games and swept Seattle when the two teams were in Fairbanks earlier this month.

"I think that might have been an illusion," Shoemaker said of the sweep of Seattle. "We did play well that night, great in fact."

The Nanooks will have to play that way again tonight and Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive.