Ice Block tournament victory keeps women’s volleyball on a winning streak

Story and photos by Britany Adorno-Alicea

Haylee Lyons, #18, and Peri Hoshock, #21, block the ball during the 2025 Ice Block tournament in Fairbanks on Saturday, September 13, 2025.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks women’s volleyball team earned a hard-fought victory in the Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic tournament, taking home their ninth victory with seven wins in a row.

With an impressive turnout of 875 people in attendance, the stakes were high and the pressure to win was felt like no other. Losing the first round of the tournament did not cause their spirits to waver, as they proceeded to sweep the Rockhurst University team with three consecutive wins in rounds two, three and four.

Head Coach Brian Scott, tournament MVP Kelli Wright, and alternate team members Cynphany Henderson and Tessa Onagaall had great things to say about the outcome of the game during a postgame interview.

“I just can’t talk enough about the resilience of the group that we’ve got,” said Coach Scott in an opening statement. “How many times can we see ourselves make the comeback and not fold under any kind of pressure, and we just chip away, and make that comeback and do what we need to do in order to get that win and we say that tonight.”

When asked how it felt to know that they were finishing off with a 7-game winning streak, Onaga replied, “I think it feels good, knowing that we’re putting in the work behind the scenes and it's paying off in our games.”

“I think we’re all very much on the same page,” added Henderson, “and we have that same intensity and drive to just keep doing our best. And I think when we do that, this is what happens.”

The University of Alaska Fairbanks women’s volleyball team huddles as their Coach Brian Scott talks strategy before the second round Saturday night.

Coach Scott spoke a little bit on how they had gone after teams that were considered top in the region, such as Rockhurst University, San Bernadino, and Rollins. “It was by design,” said Coach Scott, “We wanted to have tough competition here and part of that was the critique of our team last year, that we didn’t have a body of work or resume that justified us being in the tournament.” 

“I think we went into preseason with a fire under us, because we wanted to get into that tournament so badly next year, and I know that coming into season we're gonna keep that fire and keep that winning streak going,” said Wright with a proud determination.

The team members posed as a united front when speaking on behalf of their team as whole, truly showing just how much trust they have in each other, not only as an individual to play their role in the bigger picture but also to have each other’s backs when on the court.

“We hold each other accountable a lot. We’ve been focusing on staying together, even when things get hard and when we start to see each other drifting, we just grab on to each other and come together,” said Henderson.

Onaga added to Henderson, “I think another thing we do really well as a team is we don’t take things personally. We hold each other to such a high standard and we’re all on the same page, that we all want the same thing and it’s to win. So whatever is said, we know it's coming from a good place and we don’t take it to heart and that’s how we stay together.”

The next game for the team is scheduled for September 18th, against Montana State University Billings. Let’s keep the fire going and wish these girls luck in keeping that win streak going, and dominate their competition with their victories.