Women's volleyball had a difficult road trip two weeks ago, dropping two matches against teams they probably should have beat.  Freshman Mallory McCormick said of the disappointing trip, "We just seemed to have no energy, and made a lot of stupid mistakes." 

Sophomore Erica Starr agreed, adding, "We played down to the level of the other team."  The team needed to learn from mistakes and pick up their play as they headed home to for Saturday's match against conference-leading rival Central Washington.

In Friday's victory over St. Martin's, the Nanooks looked up to the challenge as they had three players post double digits in kills and digs. 

Especially impressive was freshman Jenna Jones whose 14 digs earned her recognition from Head Coach Phil Shoemaker as one of the teams most improved players. 

Senior standout Mallory Bergstrom continued to show why she is a perennial first team all-conference selection by leading the team in both kills, with 24, and digs, 25.

This was the kind of play the Nanooks would need to compete against the undefeated Wildcats the following night. 

The first game started slow as the teams tested each other's strengths and weaknesses.  Finally the Wildcats hit their stride and pulled away to a 30-21 victory. 

The Nanooks looked stronger in game 2, matching the Wildcats point for point until a string of unforced Nanook errors gave the Wildcats an opportunity they did not let slip by, winning the game 30-19. 

Game 3 saw the Nanooks best chance at a victory as UAF led by 6 points half way through the match, but strong serving and impenetrable defense by the Wildcats led them to a close 30-28 victory in the end. 

Ironically, despite the loss, this may have been UAF's best game of the season.  Coach Shoemaker said after the game that the women were "competitive, but that wasn't good enough." 

Shoemaker added, "There were a lot of encouraging signs out there tonight… They showed us how much we need to improve, but the next time we play these guys I think we can beat them." 

I hope the coach is right, because with at 3-3 in conference play, and 6-7 overall, the Nanooks are in danger of falling out of contention in the competitive GNAC.

UAF goes on the road next week to face Western Washington and Seattle Pacific.  Both these teams have records comparable to UAF, and with the season at its mid way point, the team can not afford to make the same mistakes that it made on the last road trip.  But commentating is easy; it's the play that is difficult.  Perhaps the Nanooks would benefit from the words of Miles Davis who said, "Play it first, and say what it means later."

The next home game is on Saturday, Oct. 9, against in-state rivals the UAA Seawolves, which always proves to be one of the most exiting matches of the year. 

The UAF sports season starts to hit full stride as next week sees the opening of the UAF hockey season with the annual blue/gold game on Oct. 2.

Dave Lokken/Sun-Star
Danielle Hitzeman (13) and Carlin Smith (15) block against Central Washington University Saturday, Sept. 25, 2004 at the Patty Center. The Wildcats defeated the Nanooks 3-0.

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