newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Go figure — the Alaska Nanooks somehow won the Nanook Classic in 2000 when the tournament brought in three NCAA Division I teams, but haven’t broken through since the round-robin event became an all-Division II competition in 2006.

Alaska would love to change that tonight and Saturday at the Patty Center in the 10th Auto Service Co. Nanook Classic. However, teams from North Carolina and Ohio that combined to win 51 matches a year ago — and a squad from Minnesota determined to improve — block their way.

The tourney sets off tonight as the Ashland Eagles meet the St. Cloud State Huskies at 6, followed by Alaska against the Catawba Indians at 8.

The Nanooks pull a doubleheader Saturday, taking on St. Cloud State at 11 a.m. and Ashland — in a match that could determine the title — at 8 p.m.

“It’s definitely a lot of volleyball,” said Jessica Hill, an all-tourney selection the past two years. “It’s just fun. We don’t get to play many tournaments. I love playing three games in one weekend.”

Alaska coach Phil Shoemaker is impressed by the visitors, though he hasn’t observed any game film and only has match statistics to go off.

“There’s definitely some talent in this field,” Shoemaker said.

On paper, Ashland from Ohio (2-2 this season) might be the favorite. It is ranked 23rd nationally and has made the NCAA D-II tournament four straight seasons, including after last year’s 26-6 campaign. The team is led by a trio of juniors — middle hitter Amanda Stefanski, outside hitter Britney Jurchenko and outside hitter Marina Santos from Brazil.

The team, which beat No. 10 Florida Southern but lost to No. 5 Tampa at a recent tournament, has goals that extend well beyond the Nanook Classic.

“Every season is the same, we want to win it all,” coach Connie Surowitz said in a press release.

Catawba (2-2), from Salisbury, N.C., went 25-9 last year but missed out on NCAAs after being eliminated in the semifinals of the South Atlantic Conference tournament. Coach Ginger Hamrick, in her 18th season, sports a 364-202 record and for power boasts 2007 All-South Region performer Melissa Powers.

Powers set a school record with 37 kills in a five-set loss to Pfeiffer University on Aug. 29. She amassed an amazing 75 swings and made just six errors.

St. Cloud State is 1-3 and looks to rebound from a 10-21 campaign last year. Patricia Micklow’s team has joined the Northern Sun Conference and returns eight players but has just four upperclassmen.

“Our goal this season will be to compete for a (conference) championship and to reach post-season play,” Micklow said in a press release.

Likewise, the Nanooks (1-1) look to move up in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and the Nanook Classic is a good opportunity to build momentum before league play begins.

Alaska got a good start on that mission last Saturday by knocking off No. 13 Central Missouri just a day after getting thrashed by the Jennies. Senior middle hitter Korlyn Bolster tied a career high with 16 kills while junior defensive specialist Hannah Armstrong gathered a career-best 21 digs on Saturday.

Though the Nanooks pulled that match out, Shoemaker admitted his team battled fatigue but said another week of practice will help to prepare for three matches in 24 hours.

“We try and rest them as much as we try to work them hard,” Shoemaker said. “There’s no question that we’ll get tired. I will be a little upset if we don’t get tired because it means we’re not working hard enough.”

In 2000, Shoemaker’s first season, the Nanooks worked hard to pull a major upset by beating D-I Gonzaga 15-13 in the fifth and deciding set of the final match. Alaska and Gonzaga finished 2-1 but the Nanooks won a tiebreaker to take the tourney title.

“Absolutely nobody expected us to win that,” Shoemaker said. “It was a very exciting time. It was something that had never been done before. We were the first D-II team to win a D-I tournament of any kind.”

Current Nanooks volunteer assistant coach and sports information director Jamie Schanback was a member of that 2000 squad, which included several players with blue hair. She recalled Thursday how then-athletic director Randy Pitney promised to have his hair dyed blue if the Nanooks won the Classic, then fulfilled the pledge in front of a crowd at the Wood Center.

Current athletic director Forrest Karr was asked Thursday if he’d do the same.

“I’m as good a sport as anyone,” said Karr, who has rappelled from the rafters of the Carlson Center in a Nanooks mascot costume to kick off the Top of the World Classic basketball tournament. “But I think they are going to win the tournament, so my answer is no.”