Matt Butcher quoted in the Nugget!

Matt Butcher quoted in the Nome Nugget newspaper!


The Nome Varsity Volleyball team brought home the third place trophy from last weekend's Spikefest tournament in Ninilchik where players faced serious competition both Friday and Saturday from teams from Nenana, Skyview, Seldovia, Su-Valley and Ninilchik.
After a brief stop in Seward on Thursday for a non-conference match-up that Nome lost, the varsity team arrived in Ninilchik to play Nenana, which Nome beat in two games straight. Nome, however, was not able to keep up their winning momentum and lost to Skyview later that day.
On Saturday, Nome started the day with a win against Seldovia, but lost to Su-Valley and Ninilchik. "I am really proud of the girls. They stuck through some tough games even though we didn't pull out the wins. The scores were close," said Head Coach Matt Butcher. Individual Nome players Brianne Wassmann and Clarissa Samuels turned heads during the games and were named all-tournament players
Last year Nome got fifth place in the State Championship Tournament, and this year Coach Butcher and the team have their sights set on qualifying for the competition again. This year, Nome will have to beat out both Kotzebue and Barrow in the Far North Conference Regional Tournament in December to qualify. According to Coach Butcher, "It may be a tall order to some, but I know we can do it."
The team is busy preparing this week for Friday's tournament against rival and fellow Far North Conference Division team, Kotzebue. Nome already has two wins against Kotzebue from earlier this year and is looking forward to hosting a local tournament this weekend.