The Alaska Nanooks women’s volleyball team is preparing for their Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) home openers this week, hosting Saint Martin’s University and Western Oregon University at the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium in Fairbanks. The Nanooks currently hold an 11-1 overall record and are 2-0 in conference play, entering the matches with a nine-game winning streak.
The first match will take place on Thursday, September 25 against Saint Martin’s at 7 p.m., followed by a game against Western Oregon on Saturday, September 27 at 2 p.m.
Last week, the Nanooks secured straight-set victories over Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific during road games. Against Montana State Billings, Elena Guc contributed eight kills and six blocks. Kelli Wright added six kills and four blocks. Cynphany Henderson led in assists with nine, while Ashlyn White had eight and Ainsley Smith finished with seven. Tessa Onaga recorded 16 digs and two aces.
In the match against Seattle Pacific, both Elena Guc and Peri Hoshock tallied ten kills each. Hoshock also contributed five digs and one block. Ainsley Smith achieved a double-double with 22 assists and 11 digs. Tessa Onaga registered 26 digs across three sets.
Tessa Onaga has been recognized as the GNAC Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week for a second consecutive time. “Onaga helped propel the Nanooks to a perfect start in conference play, leading the team to road wins over Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific,” according to the announcement. She averaged seven digs per set last week—over two more than any other GNAC player who appeared in two matches during that period—and committed no service or reception errors.
Statistically, the Nanooks lead the GNAC in total team blocks (118), which ranks third nationally. Their average of 2.51 blocks per set places them fourth in their conference and fifteenth nationally. They also lead the GNAC with 789 total team digs (ninth nationally). Individually, Tessa Onaga has accumulated 223 digs this season—the most in GNAC—and ranks tenth nationwide among NCAA Division II players for that metric.
Elena Guc has posted 128 kills so far this season (fifth-most in GNAC), while Kelli Wright follows closely with 112 (ninth-most). Defensively, Alaska holds opponents to a .078 hitting percentage—the best mark in GNAC and third-best nationally.
Saint Martin’s enters Thursday’s contest at 8-1 overall under first-year head coach Haley Domeck after opening conference play with a win over Western Oregon last week. Emily Garten is highlighted as a key player for Saint Martin’s.
Western Oregon comes into Saturday’s matchup at 1-8 overall under head coach Kaiao Nahale-a. Maela Honma is noted as a player to watch for Western Oregon.
Currently, Alaska shares an identical record atop the conference standings with Alaska Anchorage (11-1 overall; both teams are undefeated in league play). The full list of current standings can be found on the official GNAC website.
In national rankings released by coaches this week, Alaska received 123 votes—placing just outside of AVCA’s top-25 poll; Simon Fraser is ranked No.11 among all teams from their conference (see poll results here).
