Sports

UAA notebook: Volleyball team returns home, Fossman goes pro

After playing its last six matches on the road, the UAA volleyball team returns to its new home for a Saturday match.

The Seawolves meet Montana State-Billings at 7 p.m. at the new Alaska Airlines Center. The match ends a relatively long two-day break from competition for the team, which played six matches in a seven-day stretch that ended Wednesday. UAA went 5-1 in that span, which featured four matches at a tournament in California last weekend, a match in Washington on Tuesday and one in British Columbia on Wednesday.

Saturday's match against the Yellowjackets (7-3 overall, 2-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) is the first of two straight home matches for the Seawolves (8-2 overall, 2-0 GNAC).

They host Seattle Pacific (8-2, 2-0 going into a Saturday match in Fairbanks) on Monday at 7 p.m., and then they're back on the road for GNAC matches Thursday at Northwest Nazarene in Idaho and Saturday at Central Washington.

The six conference games in 12 days, if you're counting.

UAA coach Chris Green said the early crush of conference matches is happening because the NCAA Division II volleyball season is a week shorter this year. Conferences adjusted either by reducing their nonconference season by a full week or by condensing part of the conference season. The GNAC chose the latter, Green said, and scheduled three weeks' worth of matches in a two-week period.

The volleyball season lost a week because of the Division II fall festival. Since 2003, the NCAA has held Division II championship festivals so they can hold national championships in several sports in the same week at the same location.

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This school year the festival will be for fall sports — volleyball, cross country, soccer and field hockey — and it will be held Dec. 2-6 in Louisville, Kentucky. Usually, the volleyball season wraps up later in December.

Fossman heads to Germany

Kyle Fossman is headed to Germany to play pro basketball to play for the geographically challenged Fraport Skyliners.

The former UAA standout is from Haines, but a Skyliners press release says he's a Canadian.

Fossman will provide a nice outside shooting touch for the Skyliners, who begin their 22-game season in the German Budesliga's junior ProB division on Sept. 28. According to UAA, Fossman will also have an opportunity to play as many as five games with the Skyliners' ProA squad.

"We are extremely happy for Kyle," UAA men's basketball coach Rusty Osborne said in a press release. "It has always been a dream of his to play professionally, and now he has a terrific opportunity with a well-respected, stable club. With his work ethic, I'm sure he'll be successful."

While at UAA, the 6-foot Fossman broke numerous 3-point shooting records during a four-year career that ended last season. As a senior, he shot 45 percent from 3-point range, 83 percent from the free throw line and averaged 17 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assist.s

"Kyle is a very good shooter who can play either guard position and has a high intelligence for the game," said Skyliners ProB head coach Eric Detlev. "In addition, he is a good guy and brings a great attitude to the team."

Seawolves on TV

All of UAA's home games in hockey, basketball and volleyball will be televised this school year, although they won't be shown live in Anchorage or the Valley.

A deal between UAA, GCI and Denali Media will put the games on tape-delay in Anchorage and Mat-Su and live elsewhere in the state, the school announced this week.

Some home gymnastics meets will also be televised.

In Anchorage and the Valley, games will be rebroadcast on GCI cable channel 1, generally at 10 p.m. the night of the game, although times are subject to change, UAA said.

Coverage begins with Saturday night's volleyball match between the Seawolves and Montana State-Billings.

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