Busy week for Seawolves include home contests in five sports

It's a busy week for the Seawolves. Five teams are in action at home, and another is heading to the national championships.

From the nordic ski team's season debut to the hockey team's return from a month on the road to the volleyball team's season finale to a packed weekend of basketball, it's that time of year where some sports are wrapping up and others are just beginning.

Here's a look at what's going on in UAA sports this week.

Volleyball makes important leap

The volleyball team kept its postseason hopes alive by jumping two spots, from ninth to seventh, in the latest NCAA Division II West Region rankings released Wednesday.

The jump came after the team went 2-0 last week and beat instate rival UAF in four sets Tuesday.

It's a vital leap for a team hoping to make its fifth straight appearance in the eight-team West Region tournament, which doubles as the beginning of the NCAA tournament.

UAA (19-9, 14-5 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) will conclude its regular season Thursday against Montana State-Billings (8-20, 4-14) at the Alaska Airlines Center.

"We have to take care of business tomorrow," UAA coach Chris Green said Wednesday. "I think a loss against a team that doesn't have a winning record would be a huge hurt to us.

"We have to concentrate on the game tomorrow and then we'll have the whole weekend to get ready for whatever is to come next."

UAA women to host Seawolf Hoops Classic

Last week the UAA men's basketball team hosted the Alasaka/Hawaii Challenge. This week, it's the women's turn to host a tournament.

The No. 4 Seawolves host the Seawolf Hoops Classic on Friday and Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center with Western State, UAF and Holy Names coming to town.

The UAA women (2-0) and men (0-2) both play Holy Names on Friday and both teams are receiving their best play in the paint.

The women are led by junior forward Hannah Wandersee, who tallied career highs of 24 points and 11 rebounds in a Friday win over Hawaii Pacific and added a team-high 16 points in a win over Cal State-L.A.

"She had a really good summer and she's just a really hard worker," UAA coach Ryan McCarthy said. "We're very pleasantly surprised with the kind of production she's had."

Forward Jacob Lamkpin leads a UAA men's team still looking for its first regular season win of the season. The senior transfer from University of the Pacific led UAA with double-doubles of 12 points and 10 rebounds in a Friday loss to Hawaii Pacific and 16 points and 10 rebounds in a Saturday loss to Chaminade.

Kurgat among favorites at nationals

West Region champion Caroline Kurgat and the fourth-ranked UAA women's cross-country running team head to the Division II national championships this week looking for more hardware.

The Seawolves will run in their 10th consecutive national championship on Saturday in Evansville, Indiana. They qualified by finishing second in the West Region meet earlier this month.

Kurgat, a senior from Eldoret, Kenya, will be among the favorites. She placed third at last year's championships.

"It's the national championship. I guess that's all we have to say about that," UAA coach Michael Friess said. "Our women's team has been training very well after a very successful regional meet.

"A good group of upperclassmen (is) going to go down there and challenge. Certainly a top-10 team, and if they run well, they could be a top-5 team and maybe even bring home a trophy."

The UAA men's team failed to qualify for nationals for the first time in 10 seasons, but will be represented by All-American Edwin Kangogo, who finished sixth at regionals.

Skiers head to Hatcher Pass

UAA's nordic skiers get to don their skis for the first time in a collegiate competition this weekend when they host the Alaska Nordic Cup on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday will feature 10K men's and 7.5K women's classic races at Hatcher Pass. A mixed relay will take place Sunday at either Hatcher Pass or Kincaid Park, depending on conditions.

UAA nordic coach Andrew Kastning said UAA, UAF and APU skiers will compete. He expects some top high school and club skiers to sign up too.

"I think we're looking forward to that first competition to gauge where we're at and what we need to do moving forward into the winter," Kastning said. "We've been building on our exercise and training since the beginning of the summer and every skier is getting anxious, wondering how it went."

3A keeps feeding UAA

With this week's signing of Grace Christian guard Tobin Karlberg, men's basketball coach Rusty Osborne continued a tradition of landing Class 3A Players of the Year.

Osborne's recruits over the years include five other players with the 3A award on their resume:

Lonnie Ridgeway of Heritage Christian, Carl Arts of Valdez, Kyle Fossman of Haines, Christian Leckband of Nome and Gus Simmers of Anchorage Christian.

Arts became a Division II All-America center and Fossman was an all-conference guard.

One of UAA's biggest Class 3A recruits came while Harry Larrabee was the head coach. Kotzebue's Butch Lincoln became the first Alaska Native to earn a full basketball scholarship at UAA and became a fan favorite, and a play-making starting point guard, during his time there from 1992-97.

Gymnastics adds 2

A pair of Level 10 gymnasts are the first recruits for first-year gymnastics coach Tanya Ho.

Alexandriz Britz of Orting, Washington, and Katelyn Fandrich of Easley, South Carolina, will join the Seawolves next season.

Britz was an all-around qualifier for the 2017 Junior Olympics in her first season at Level 10, which is the sport's highest skill level. At the 2017 Region 2 championships, she placed second on bars, third on vault and fifth in all-around.

Fandrich has competed at Level 10 since 2014.

"Both Kate and Alex are strong Level 10 (gymnasts) who will make an immediate impact for us as freshmen," Ho said in a press release.

VOLLEYBALL

GNAC volleyball standings

Team                             GNAC     Overall

Western Washington    17-1      23-3

Northwest Nazarene    16-2       24-2

Central Washington      14-4      19-7

UAA                                 14-5       19-9

Simon Fraser                10-8       13-13

Seattle Pacific                8-10      13-13

Concordia                       7-11     12-13

Saint Martin's                 4-14     9-17

Montana State-Billings 4-14    8-20

UAF 4-15 11-17

Western Oregon 2-16 6-19

Last week

UAA def. Western Oregon 25-23, 25-21, 25-22

UAA def. Concordia 25-16, 25-23, 25-14

Tuesday — UAA def. UAF 25-15, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18

Thursday — UAA vs. Montana State-Billings, 7 p.m., Alaska Airlines Center

HOCKEY

Last week

Alabama-Huntsville 5, UAA 1

UAA 3, Alabama-Huntsville 3

This week

Friday — UAA vs. Michigan Tech, 7:07 p.m., Sullivan Arena

Saturday — UAA vs. Michigan Tech, 7:07 p.m., Sullivan Arena

MEN'S BASKETBALL

Last week

Hawaii Pacific 65, UAA 51

Chaminade 71, UAA 65

This week

Friday — UAA vs. Holy Names, 7:30 p.m., Alaska Airlines Center

Saturday — UAA vs. Holy Names, 7:30 p.m., Alaska Airlines Center

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Last week

UAA 82, Hawaii Pacific 74

UAA 77, Cal State L.A. 50

This week

Seawolf Hoops Classic

Alaska Airlines Center

Friday — Western State vs. UAF, 3 p.m.; UAA vs. Holy Names, 5:15 p.m.

Saturday — UAF vs. Holy Names, 5:15 p.m.; UAA vs. Western State, 5:15 p.m.

CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING

Saturday — UAA at NCAA Championships, 7:15 a.m. AST, Evansville, Indiana

SKIING

Saturday — Alaska Nordic Cup, UAA vs. UAF, 7.5K/10K classic, 10 a.m., Hatcher Pass

Sunday — Alaska Nordic Cup, UAA vs. UAF, 4x5K mixed relay, 10 a.m., Kincaid Park or Hatcher Pass