The Rewind: Nikiski pulls off upset and Wasilla repeats at state volleyball; UAA hockey splits with UAF in Gov Cup series

Welcome to The Rewind, a weekly digest that puts a spotlight on the biggest stories and best performances from Alaska’s world of sports.

This past week featured several notable individual and team performances across the Alaska sports landscape at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. The postseason for the 2024 high school volleyball season wrapped with some exciting finishes and an improbable run. On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage and Fairbanks women’s volleyball and hockey programs faced off in town over the weekend. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances and career achievements worth recognizing and celebrating.

Headlines and highlights

The 2024 high school volleyball season at the 3A and 4A levels came to a close over the weekend with an exciting slate of finals matches at the 2024 ASAA state tournament. Both required if-necessary games to decide a victor in the double-elimination format. And both champions had to battle back through the losers bracket to prevail.

After getting upset in the quarterfinals by South on Thursday night, Wasilla avenged its first loss of the season by winning the initial rematch in four sets to force an if-necessary game. From there, the Warriors bested the Wolverines 30-22 in the extended match to successfully defend their state title.

“I begged them not to let that one loss define them,” Wasilla coach Katie Oxspring said. “Then we went for ice cream because what they’ve accomplished even if we’d lost the game after that, it doesn’t take away from all they’ve accomplished the last two years and the legacy they’ve left at Wasilla High School.”

[‘It was even sweeter’: Wasilla takes circuitous route to second straight 4A volleyball title]

At the 3A level, Nikiski capped off an incredible and improbable run to the program’s first state title since 2018 by keeping two-time defending champion Kenai from pulling off a three-peat. The Kardinals had not lost a set heading into the finals, but the Bulldogs flipped the script on them, sweeping them in three sets and winning the if-game 30-27.

“You know them so well, the girls know where to take their place on the floor,” Nikiski head coach Stacey Segura said. “We showed up today. My defense was incredible. Our game plan was to never back down. We’re not going to stop swinging. No one ever wins a championship by tipping.”

[Nikiski stuns Kenai Central to take 3A volleyball state title]

After an exciting day of prep action on Alaska Volleyball Day, UAA and UAF faced off for the second and final time during the regular season and did so in front of an NCAA Division II record-breaking crowd of 4,388 attendees. The Seawolves were swept in three straight sets on their homecourt, marking the first regular-season series sweep by the Nanooks in the rivalry since 2008.

“We cannot be happier with the community support that we have for this team and this program,” UAA head coach Stacie Meisner said. “It’s something that’s really special and I think is really unique at the Division II level. You just don’t see this everywhere.”

[Alaska’s volleyball community turns out to help UAA break NCAA attendance record for 2nd time in 3 years]

The UAA and UAF hockey teams also faced off this weekend in the first pair of games in the annual Governor’s Cup series. An early power-play opportunity in overtime propelled the visiting Nanooks to a dramatic 3-2 victory on Friday night. The Seawolves bounced back with a vengeance on Saturday with a commanding 6-1 triumph in which they racked up a trio of empty-netters late in the third period, two of which came from freshman forward Dylan Contreras.

“Solid effort by everyone in the lineup tonight,” UAA head coach Matt Shasby said in a statement. “I thought the Contreras line led the way again tonight. We took a step to establishing our identity.”

[Overtime goal vaults UAF hockey past UAA in Governor’s Cup opener]

Both UAA and UAF women’s basketball teams split a pair of games over the weekend. The Seawolves narrowly suffered their first loss of the season Friday in a 66-64 loss to Point Loma but rebounded with a 139-22 blowout of Stanton on Saturday. In that victory, eight of the 11 players who took the court reached double figures in scoring, led by junior Elaina Mack of King Cove, who recorded 20-plus for the third time in the team’s first six games.

Meanwhile, the Nanooks also lost for the first time this season as well in a 70-59 defeat at the hands of Western Colorado University. They also rebounded with a lopsided win on their home court in which they blew out Corban University 92-67 led by a 17-point performance by Anchorage’s Destiny Reimers.

The Anchorage Wolverines played the third and final series of a 10-game homestand with a trio of games against the Springfield Jr. Blues over the weekend. After pulling off an exciting sweep against their Midwest Division foes, the Wolverines are now riding a five-game winning streak dating back to last weekend. They currently sit atop the standings with a record of 16-4-1-0 and are tied with the Wisconsin Windigo for the most points with 33 through 21 games. Unlike the first two games of the series, the Wolverines had to claw their way out of a 4-1 deficit after the first period and did so with a furious third-period rally in which local product Jason Bourdukofsky of Anchorage scored the game-winning goal in the final minutes.

Alaska stars shining Outside

Fairbanks’ Daishen Nix dropped 21 points in back-to-back games to help the Iowa Wolves stay undefeated with wins over the Indiana Mad Ants and Sioux Falls Skyforce in the second week of the NBA’s G-League. The two-way contract player for the Minnesota Timberwolves affiliate also recorded 13 rebounds, 13 assists and four steals in the two games combined.

Anchorage’s Tyree Wilson had one of his better and more impactful games of the season in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 34-19 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 11 of the NFL regular season. Despite playing his fewest defensive snaps since Week 6 with just 34, the 2023 first-rounder recorded his second sack of the season and in the last three games, two total tackles including one solo and one for a loss and his fifth quarterback hit of the season.

Anchorage’s Jeremy Swayman made 20 saves on 22 shots on goal to record his fifth win of the season as a starting goalkeeper and helped lead the Boston Bruins to a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues last Tuesday.

Anchorage’s Malachi Casey recorded season-highs in the Sierra College football team’s 35-28 loss to Butte on Saturday. The former Dimond standout led the team with eight catches and logged the second-most receiving yards with a season-high 89 and hauled in his third touchdown of the season and second in back-to-back games.

(If you know of an Alaska athlete who has achieved a standout performance or reached a noteworthy milestone on the Outside, email sports@adn.com or jreed@adn.com with the details.)

Fast Forward

Prep

Hockey

West v. Chugiak at Ben Boeke, Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The last two state champions at the Division I level square off for the first time this season in a Cook Inlet Conference showdown. The Eagles and Mustangs split last year’s regular season series with West taking the first 4-1 and the Mustangs prevailing 4-3 in overtime in the second.

College

Women’s basketball

ASRC/ConocoPhillips Great Alaska Shootout at Alaska Airlines, Friday and Saturday

The Seawolves will be back in town to host the state’s premier basketball tournament in which they will be hosting a trio of Division I teams. Their first foe will be Troy on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

Men’s basketball

Portland Bible v. UAA at Alaska Airlines, Saturday and Sunday

The Seawolves will be back in action on their homecourt for the first time in nearly a month this weekend when they host the Arrows for a two-game series. Saturday’s tipoff will take place at noon while Sunday’s will be at 3 p.m.

Volleyball

Western Washington v. UAA at Alaska Airlines Center, Thursday at 11 a.m.

The Seawolves will wrap up the regular season with a pair of games against GNAC foes starting with a matinee matchup with the Vikings on Thursday morning for ASD Digs Higher Education where the crowd will be bolstered by a large contingent of ASD fifth graders. They will close out the season with a matchup against second-seeded Simon Fraser on Saturday after where will honor their senior class as well.

Hockey

Lake Superior State v. UAA at Avis Alaska Sports Complex, Saturday and Sunday

The Seawolves will play the final two-game series of their six-game homestand this weekend when the Lakers come to town. Saturday’s puck drop time is 6:07 p.m. and Sunday’s will be at 5:07 p.m.

Last week’s results

High School

Wrestling

Tuesday

North Pole 98, Lathrop 46 (boys/girls)

Thursday

Ketchikan 45, Colony 36 (boys/girls)

Volleyball

Thursday

Kenai Central 3, Monroe Catholic 0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-16)

Sitka 3, Kotzebue 0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-18)

Seward 3, Barrow (20-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22, 15-13)

Valdez 3, Nikiski (29-31, 25-20, 26-24, 24-26, 15-11)

Kenai Central 3, Sitka 0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-14)

Valdez 3, Seward 1 (21-25, 25-17, 25-16, 25-17)

South 3, Lathrop 0 (25-14, 25-17, 25-17)

Wasilla 3, Chugiak 1 (17-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-20)

Service 3, Juneau-Douglas 0 (25-18, 25-7, 25-18)

Dimond 3, Soldotna 1 (28-26, 27-25, 21-25, 25-14)

South 3, Wasilla 2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-12, 21-25, 15-8)

Service 3, Dimond 1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-17)

Friday

Kenai Central 3, Valdez 0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-12)

South 3, Service 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-15)

Monroe Catholic3, Kotzebue 1 (29-31,25-20, 25-23, 25-23)

Nikiski 3, Barrow 0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-23)

Seward 3, Monroe Catholic 1(25-18, 26-24, 24-26, 25-17)

Nikiski 3, Sitka 2 (19-25, 25-13, 17-25, 25-13, 15-7)

Nikiski 3, Seward 1 (25-22, 25-16, 22-25, 26-24)

Chugiak 3, Lathrop 0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-14)

Soldotna 3, Juneau-Douglas 0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-13)

Dimond 3, Chugiak 0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-9)

Wasilla 3, Soldotna 0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-18)

Wasilla 3, Dimond (25-19, 26-24, 17-25, 25-22)

Saturday

Nikiski 3, Valdez 2 (19-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-11)

Wasilla 3, Service 0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-16)

Nikiski 3, Kenai Central 0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-21)

Nikiski 1, Kenai Central 0 (30-27)

Wasilla 3, South 1 (25-13, 21-25, 28-26, 25-19)

Wasilla 1, South 0 (30-22)

Hockey

Tuesday

Colony 3, Wasilla 2

Thursday

Kenai Central 4, Chugiak 3

Friday

Chugiak 4, Soldotna 2

Kenai Central 9, Kodiak 1

Houston 5, Wasilla 1

Saturday

Kenai Central 6, Kodiak 2

College

Volleyball

Saturday

UAF 3, UAA 0 (25-18, 25-16, 26-24)

Women’s basketball

Friday

Point Loma 66, UAA 64

Western Colorado University 70, UAF 59

Saturday

UAA 143, Stanton 22

UAF 92, Corban University 67

Hockey

Friday

UAF 3, UAA 2 (OT)

Saturday

UAA 6, UAF 1

NAHL

Friday

Anchorage Wolverines 3, Springfield Jr. Blues 1

Saturday

Anchorage Wolverines 6, Springfield Jr. Blues 3

Sunday

Anchorage Wolverines 6, Springfield Jr. Blues 5

Midwest standings

Team W-L-OTL-SOL-PTS

Anchorage Wolverines 16-4-1-0-33

Wisconsin Windigo 15-2-1-2-33

Chippewa Steel 11-8-1-2-25

Fairbanks Ice Dogs 11-3-1-2-25

Springfield Jr. Blues 10-8-0-0-20

Kenai River Brown Bears 8-12-1-2-19

Minnesota Wilderness 8-10-3-0-19

Janesville Jets 5-12-1-2-13