Alaska sports week in review: Colony football eyes top spot, while West rallies past South; East’s Mamae runs wild; UAA volleyball sweeps in Hawaii

Last week marked the first full week of action for student-athletes returning to school for the fall semester. Week 2 of the high school football season featured some exciting matchups at the Division I level with Colony topping defending champion Bettye Davis East High. The UAA volleyball team is off to a hot start, sweeping three matches in Hawaii plus plenty more news from both high school and college levels. And East track star Olyvia Mamae flashed her athleticism on the flag football field.

[Jack Nash propels Colony football team to statement win over top-ranked East]

Headlines and highlights

Colony will likely be moving into the top spot in the next ASBN football poll after forcing five turnovers on defense in the 24-21 victory. The No. 2-ranked Knights intercepted four passes from East quarterback Azariah Atonio and forced a fumble on the second play of the third quarter. Junior quarterback and free safety Jack Nash led the charge on both sides of the ball with three total touchdowns, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

After trailing for most of the first half in its Friday night home matchup with South High, the West High football team scored 22 unanswered points using a punishing and highly potent rushing attack. Davis Ilolio rushed for three touchdowns and over half of the Eagles’ 330 yards on the ground on his own with 177 rushing yards.

The University of Alaska Anchorage volleyball team saw its first action of the 2022 regular season this past weekend down in Hawaii and returned home with a perfect record. The Seawolves must’ve packed their brooms because they swept each of their three opponents by scores of three sets to none. Senior Eve Stephens led the team in kills in all three games and finished the weekend with 36 in total.

Chugiak’s Campbell Peterson bested 2021-2022 Cross Country Gatorade Player of the Year Robyn Miller of South by a whole minute with her first-place finish of 19 minutes, 33 seconds in the girls varsity 5K race at the 2022 Ted McKenney Invite on Saturday.

Reigning girls doubles tennis state champion Antonia Yu of West had a battle on her hands Monday in singles, defeated Azra Pedalino of Service in one of the tightest matches 3-6, 6-4, 10-8. West beat Service 7-2 in a meet that was closer than the final team score indicated.

The East flag football team got off to an explosive start to the 2022 season Thursday with a dominant 42-0 road win over Eagle River. The Thunderbirds were led to victory by senior Olyvia Mamae who recorded three touchdowns, a pair of extra-point runs and three flag pulls on defense.

The Dimond High flag football team cruised to a 35-6 win over West High on Saturday in its second game of the 2022 season. The Lynx were powered by Mai Mateaki, who rushed for 171 yards and three touchdowns, including one rushing and a pair of receiving scores.

Zoe Witter was all the offense the Service flag football team needed in its win over Bartlett on Saturday. While she didn’t reach the end zone on any of her five offensive touches, Witter ran back two of three interceptions on defense for scores of 30 and 65 yards.

Chugiak swimmer Quinn Morgan put together a solid early season performance Friday in her team’s 105-65 win over Service. She won the 50-yard freestyle, anchored the winning 200 medley relay, won the 100 backstroke and anchored the winning 400-freestyle relay.

Days after signing former Anchorage Christian School standout Demarcus Hall-Scriven, the University of Alaska Fairbanks men’s basketball team announced the addition of another local product from its own neck of the woods. Former Monroe Catholic standout Isaac Garcia signed to play with the Nanooks for the 2022-2023 season after spending the last two years starring at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington.

[Alaska sports notebook: Nanooks sign former ACS basketball standout; UAA and UAF volleyball players named to preseason all-conference team]

The UAA men’s basketball team wrapped up its 2022-2023 recruiting class with the announcement of adding prominent junior college transfer Jaedon Bradley. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound forward was the seventh-leading scorer in NJCAA Region IX last season at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyoming with an average of 17.3 points per game.

Last week’s results

Football

Friday

West Valley 44, Eielson 0

Nikiski 32, Seward 22

Houston 46, Homer 0

Colony 24, Bettye Davis East Anchorage 21

West Anchorage 44, South Anchorage 34

Wasilla 34, Chugiak 0

Soldotna 54, Service 14

Saturday

North Pole 35, Kenai 13

Lathrop 54, Palmer 0

Juneau Douglas 33, Bartlett 14

Dimond 32, Eagle River 16

Flag football

Thursday

West 6, Service 0

East 42, Eagle River 0

Saturday

Service 12, Bartlett 0

Dimond 35, West 6

Tennis

West 9, Chugiak 0

Service 7, Eagle River 2

South 8, Eagle River 1

Monday

West 7, Service 2

South 5, Dimond 4

Cross country

Ted McKenney XC Invitational

Saturday in Soldotna

Boys

1. Grace Christian 62; 2. Colony 107; 3. West 120; 4. West Valley 120; 5. Dimond 164

Girls

1. Chugiak 42; 2. South 66; 3. Colony 127; 4. Dimond 143; 5. West 150

Swimming

Dual Meets

Girls

West 110, Bartlett 22

Dimond 159, Eagle River 67

Chugiak 105, Service 65

South 76, East 9

Boys

West 44, Bartlett 16

Dimond 171, Eagle River 101

Service 115, Chugiak 63

South 68, East 7

College volleyball

Friday

UAA 3, Hawaii Pacific 0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-12)

Saturday

UAA 3, Hawaii Hilo 0 (25-18, 25-8, 25-17)

UAA 3, Chaminade 0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-22)

Three things to watch for this week

Prep football

Rivalry Week

On Saturday afternoon, a pair of rivalrly games will take between teams on the same side of town. The annual ‘Boot’ game between East and Bartlett will kickoff at 3 p.m. at the same time South and Service will be set to square off for hillside supremacy. All four teams are coming off humbling Week 2 loses and will be looking to get back on track.

Girls tennis

Service at Dimond, 5 p.m. Thursday

The Cougars and Lynx are expected to be among the better teams in the conference this year and will face off for the first time later this week.

Volleyball

UAA vs. Lubbock Christian at 7 p.m. Thursday, vs. Emmanuel at 9:30 am and Point Loma at 7:30 Friday, and vs. Pittsburg State at 7 p.m. Saturday.

After sweeping three straight opponents in the 50th state, the UAA volleyball team returns to 49th state this week host the Seawolf Invitational at the Alaska Airlines Center starting Thursday and running through Saturday.