2 weeks Ago By Caleb Jones
The UAF volleyball team (20-7, 12-5) closed their regular season with a sweep over Western Washington University (12-11, 11-6) on Saturday. It completed a successful year for the Nanooks, who now await a potential postseason appearance. The energy was high and the stands were packed for Senior Day.
It marked the closing chapter for one of the program’s best runs in recent history, as UAF entered at third in the GNAC and fighting for a postseason berth. Five seniors took the court at the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium for the last time, as Kinley Erickson, Kristina Head, Josie Jansen, Karli Nielson and Rilee White were honored in the festivities. A three-set sweep (29-27, 28-26, 25-17) pushed the Nanooks to a 21-7 record, including a 13-5 mark in conference.
Their recent form, which has seen them win nine of their 10 matches, puts them firmly in the conversation for an at-large bid to the NCAA DII Women’s Volleyball Championship Tournament – the league’s national postseason competition. “Amazing,” UAF volleyball head coach Brian Scott said to describe his team’s regular season. “We can only have six [players] out there on the court, and there’s 12 more on the sideline that you don’t get to see every day in practice that are just working, working hard and pushing everybody to become who they really are – that’s why we’re a 21-win team.
” In the first set, UAF started with a kill from Rachel Pierce and stayed ahead until the Vikings pulled level at 11-11. The score remained tight with lead changes throughout, before the Nanooks sealed things at 29-27 on a block from Pierce and Jansen, giving them seven as a team in the opener. The second went similarly, as points were frequently exchanged between the two.
Neither led by more than three in what was another set that went into extra points. Back-to-back errors from the Vikings pushed UAF ahead for the win at 28-26. “Western Washington has been a great team for however-many years.
.. I'm really proud of the fact that we’re competing at this level,” Scott said.
“When somebody pushes against us and gets it to set point – we aren’t backing down...
we’re pushing back right now and willing to do the little extra it takes to get the win.” In the second, White accomplished a feat never before done in the GNAC, as she became the conference’s first athlete to reach 1,000 kills, 1,000 digs and 200 service aces in a career. “One of the great things about Rilee is that she is so humble about everything she does.
You would never know that she is just a killer out there on the volleyball court,” Scott said. “She does everything so well and so humbly. The Nanooks were on their way to a sweep in the third.
They started strong and steadily built their lead before closing out the match. They led by as many as eight – their largest advantage of the day – and wrapped the contest up with a kill from Jansen at 25-17. Individually, Elena Guc led the way with 12 kills, Ainsley Smith finished with a team-high 20 assists and Nielson finished atop the digs category with 11.
Now the Nanooks await the selection committee’s decision on their potential trip to the national tournament. They hope to be one of 41 at-large bids in the field of 64. The result will be decided on Monday, Nov.
25. “Just excited – I think we have built the resume to be included in there and we just hope that the powers-that-be out there see the same things that I think we’ve shown,” Scott said in regard to the postseason..
