Volleyball Regionals

This past weekend Noatak hosted the mixed 6 volleyball regionals. It's quite the event with teams coming from as far as Wainwright. The first and second place teams advance to states. There were 7 teams that attended. Pt. Hope, Kiana, Upriver, Selawik, Kivalina, Noorvik, and Wainwright as well as Noatak. The games were supposed to start on Thursday night but the weather was so bad that no planes were flying and only a few teams made it in. The weather on Friday was pretty bad too but a couple of teams managed to make it in the morning before the weather got bad again. Thursday nights games were canceled hoping that the rest of the teams would make it in on Friday. Two of the teams didn't make it in for the games on Friday so they had to forfeit their first games. It was a double elimination tournament so that meant that the teams that had to forfeit their first games couldn't lose or they were done. The teams finally ended up making it in on Saturday. Kiana and Noorvik had to play almost as soon as they got off the plane and if they lost they were done for the weekend. It was a good match and Noorvik ended up winning in a game 5 that went to deuce point for a few rounds. Pt. Hope won the tournament in dominating fashion by not losing a single game. Noatak had a chance to advance to the state tournament in Anchorage but they lost in 4 to Wainwright. The players consist of 3 boys and 3 girls on the court for a team. It makes for some fairly entertaining games.
Kayla is assistant coaching the high school girls basketball team. She says it is significantly less stressful than coaching middle school.
The sunlight is very lacking now. The sun rises at about 1:30 and sets at about 3:00. It is light for longer than that because the sun rises and sets at a much shallower angle. So it is light enough to see at 11 or so and then it is sort of like dusk until 5 ish. I have not been out ice fishing yet but I am hoping to go this weekend after I finish making an ice spud out of a length of rebar and a piece of angle iron. Having a job during available daylight hours really cuts into fishing time. I will probably try just in the channel near our house but if my spud holds up I will go to the main channel.

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