newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — The Alaska Nanooks have taken a big step toward replacing the large volleyball shoes of Korlyn Bolster and Alexa Sherman by signing a pair of 6-footers to National Letters of Intent.

Head coach Phil Shoemaker on Wednesday announced the signings of 6-foot-1 middle blocker Sydney Van Munster of Portland, Mich., and 6-foot setter Mandy Grierson of Abbotsford, British Columbia. Both will enroll at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the fall of 2009 with four years of athletic eligibility remaining.

“We think they’re both going to be big-time players down the road,” Shoemaker said by telephone Thursday. “How quickly they mature into those roles is hard to say.”

Van Munster is an important addition considering that middle blocker Bolster, an all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference first-team selection this season, has expended her eligibility.

Given that Van Munster comes from the Midwest, which is outside of the Nanooks’ typical recruiting grounds, Alaska did not initially recruit her.

“She actually contacted us. We had never seen her, never heard of her,” Shoemaker said. “She’s one of those kids who jumps off the video.”

There were plenty of highlights from her senior year at Portland High, where Van Munster garnered all-state honorable mention, averaged 3.47 kills per set and boasted a hitting percentage of .315. She also set a school record with 1,152 career kills.

Before Grierson’s signing, Sherman, a 2008 honorable mention all-GNAC player as a junior, had been the only designated setter for next season.

“We feel strongly that when Alexa graduates, our team is going to be in very good hands,” Shoemaker said.

The idea is for Grierson to serve as an understudy to Sherman next year.

“That’s the plan, but we never pigeonhole anybody,” Shoemaker said, adding that Grierson could get substantial playing time if she earns it.

Shoemaker and associate head coach Amy Phelps scouted Grierson in places like Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Reno, Nev.

Grierson, a southpaw, has six years of high school and club volleyball experience. She was named MVP of her league championship Yale Secondary school team from 2005-07 and was selected to the Canada-wide Molten Top 25 prospect list in 2007.

While 6-foot is considered tall for a setter (this year’s setters Sherman and Sedra Zlock are each 5-9), Shoemaker is skeptical that is Grierson’s true measurement.

“Maybe in tall sneakers,” he said.