Hawks host top seed in MAC Championships

HOUSTON — It’s not often a head coach sees a team with one loss as the best match-up for their team during the first round of a conference tournament.

But that’s the case this week as Houston head coach Greg Gaither and his Hawks prepare for the Mid-Alaska Conference Championships volleyball tourney, slated to start today at Houston High School.

Houston, the fourth seed in the four-team tourney, will host top-seeded Lathrop today at 6:30 p.m.

“I’m pleased we drew Lathrop,” Gaither said. “It’s a better match-up physically.”

Gaither, Houston’s second-year head coach who has helped to turn around a Hawks volleyball program that has traditionally struggled, isn’t just looking at Lathrop’s 13-1 mark. He’s looking at the physical makeup of the Malemutes and his Hawks.

“They’re a bit smaller team,” Gaither said. “Both (West Valley and North Pole) are really big teams.”

Houston, which generally plays with one middle blocker in front of the net, is a team that relies on its defensive play away from the net. Using their quickness and a bit of defensive tenacity, the Hawks tend to try to wear teams down and force opponents to make mistakes.

“We’ve got to make them make an error,” Gaither said.

Houston is 0-2 against the Malemutes this season, but at times, Gaither said, the Hawks have had success against the Fairbanks squad.

“We’ve played well against them all season,” Gaither said. “We’ve got to go in and try to steal some games.”

West Valley and North Pole will play in the other first-round match at 5 p.m. today.

The losers of each first-round match will meet in the third-place match at 11:00 a.m. Saturday. The first-round winners will play for the conference title and the MAC’s lone state tourney berth at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

The tournament will mark the final home appearance for eight Houston seniors. Gaither said it will be tough to lose a group that has endured a great amount of adversity while the Hawks worked to build a volleyball program at HHS.

“They’ve had to deal with losing a lot,” Gaither said. “But they come and have fun. I’ve felt like those girls deserved to be closer to some wins.”

The group of seniors includes captains Ariel Katzenberger and Kelsey Thamm, a pair Gaither credits for providing constant leadership on the court.

Despite the fact the Hawks will graduate eight of their 12 varsity players, Gaither said he’s excited about the future of Houston volleyball.

“We had really solid (junior varsity) and C-teams,” Gaither said. “We’ve got a great load of freshman, and a little more size.”

Gaither also credited the work of assistants Laura Porter and Shane Vannoy.

“Having the same staff for two seasons has given us a good push,” Gaither said. “We’re starting to build something good.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.