Nanook volleyball ladies open season with two victories

The first volleyball games of the season for the Nome-Beltz Lady Nanook volleyball team took place in their home den, on Friday and Saturday and on both days the Nanooks remained victorious against the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears.

The Nanooks won their varsity games on Friday evening 3-1 and on Saturday afternoon 3-2, in front of an enthusiastic and vocal home crowd.

It is unusual for the Juneau team to travel to Nome, but Nanooks Head Coach Lucas Frost said they tried to fill in their game schedule and invited the Juneau-Douglas team to Nome. He explained that it was beneficial for his squad to be facing a team from a larger school. Juneau is a 4A school, as opposed to Nome, which is classified as a 3A school.

“Friday night far surpassed my expectations,” said Frost of the performance of his team. He said his team began practice on August 2, but he had opened the gym a few days a week throughout the summer to give them a chance to practice.

And practice they did. Frost noted that during last weekend’s games the players worked hard, showed dedication and the will to win. “There was a lot of movement back and forth and they hit the ground for every single ball,” he said.

Frost said that the team still needs to work on transitions and that “serving needs to get under control,” but he sounded happy with what he’s got.

Only two seniors graduated from his team last year, so he said he has a solid group to work with and is excited about a few up and comers from the JV team.

Of his varsity group, he said Kastyn Lie is probably the strongest player. He also noted the leap in progress that Taeler Brunette made. “She’s probably my biggest up and coming player. She started working real hard in open gym [during the summer] and she’s doing really well,” Frost said.

During the game on Saturday, setters Teri Ruud and Amber Gray showed aggressive action, as did Katherine Scott and Emily Pomrenke, who guarded the net well in several heated skirmishes with the Juneau Crimson Bears.  “Yes, Katherine Scott and Emilie do cause some problems at the net,” Frost said.

Lena Danner is the assistant coach.

Having notched the first two wins of the season gets the Lady Nanooks extra points in the state ranking. The next games will be in mid-September, when the Nanooks travel to Kotzebue on Sept 15 and 16. The following weekend, the Kotzebue Huskies will come to Nome.