Lathrop spikers beat Delta

Staff Report

Published Friday, August 28, 2009

FAIRBANKS —The host Lathrop Malemutes improved to 2-0 on the season by holding off the aggressive Delta Junction Huskies for a 25-21, 25-15, 19-25, 25-19 victory in Thursday night’s nonconference volleyball match.

Lathrop’s defense rose to the occasion against an improved Delta squad with a new head coach.

“We worked a lot on anticipating where to be on defense, making calls, being vocal and playing ahead of the other side,’’ Malemutes head coach Sovanny Ebbesen said by phone.

Lathrop played six players who spent last season on the junior varsity team.

“They picked up the defense tremendously because it’s a team that’s not very experienced as far as touching the ball,” Ebbesen said. “This is a very coachable team and the more they practice, the better they’ll get.”

Ebbesen saw a competitive group of Huskies compared to the team Lathrop faced in 2008.

“I was very surprised with Delta,” she said. “Last year, they were very inexperienced. This year, they have a new coach and she’s going to do a wonderful job with them.

“They’re very competitive, they have good hitters and a very good libero, and their defense is just spectacular. They were giving us a run for our money.”

The Malemutes are idle until they host the Eielson Ravens in a nonconference match at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 8.

Eielson defeats Hutch

The Eielson Ravens began their Aurora Conference schedule by defeating the Hutchison Hawks 25-11, 25-11, 25-6 at Eielson.

Eielson coach Christine Dyer said the Ravens (1-1) hit much more aggressively than in their season opener at West Valley and were bolstered by strong serving and passing.

Eielson will host the Monroe Catholic Rams at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, and Hutchison (0-3, 0-1 Aurora) will host the North Pole Patriots at the same time.

North Pole netters top Eielson

North Pole’s tennis team took three singles matches and two forfeits to defeat Eielson 5-1.

Patriots sophomore Joleen Boyd won the most hotly contested match in girls No. 1 singles 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 over Eielson sophomore Reilly Swammy.

In boys No. 1 singles, Ryan Smith defeated Ben Aman 6-1, 6-0. Jessica Hawks topped Sarah Patterson 6-3, 6-3 in girls No. 2 singles. Eielson forfeited girls doubles and mixed doubles. North Pole forfeited the boys No. 2 singles match.

Contact the News-Miner sports department at 459-7581.

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