Aug. 24, 2007

Box Score

The Alaska Nanooks dropped their first match of the new season, falling to Chaminade in their second game of the Hawaiian Style Classic women's volleyball tournament in Hilo, HI.

The Nanooks fell behind early, as Chaminade captured the first two games by a score of 30-17 and 30-23. Alaska made things interesting by edging a tightly-contested third game, which finished 33-31 in favor of the Nanooks. The Swords snuffed out any hopes of a comeback, however, by taking the fourth set, 30-20.

"We just didn't really have enough fire in our belly this morning. We came out kind of flat, and never really got a good serve and pass game going, and that really plays into Chaminade's hands: they are a very good ball control team," said head coach Phil Shoemaker. "At times we looked pretty good, but we were never really in sync long enough to sustain a consistent game."

Much of Chaminade's early momentum came from the hands of junior outside hitter Trina Kauliakamoa. The Las Vegas native rattled off six straight points against the Nanooks to put the first set out of reach. Senior outside hitter Evelyn Bluthenthal also proved to be a thorn in the Nanooks' side, collecting a game-high 24 kills while hitting .656.

Sophomore Megan Thigpen was again among the bright spots for Alaska. The outside hitter scored 13 kills in the match: highest on the team. Thigpen worked hard on the defensive side as well: her six defensive digs were tied for second-best on the team, behind only Hannah Armstrong (seven). Sophomore Jessica Hill also had 10 kills, and Alexa Sherman chipped in 35 assists in a losing cause.

"Jess Hill and Megan [Thigpen] have shown that they are really going to be strong, go-to players for us," said Shoemaker. "And we just didn't get Alexa [Sherman] enough help out there today: if we can do that, she is going to do a good job for us as well."

The other positive for Alaska has been Korlyn Bolster's recovery from a hip flexor injury. Shoemaker says that Bolster describes herself as back to "about 95 percent", and will most likely be fit enough to continue to play for the Blue and Gold.

The Nanooks will play their third game of the Hawaiian Style Tournament later this evening, when they take on Texas Woman's University. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m.