Box Score
FAIRBANKS, AK - The Alaska Nanooks used a double-double from
Heather Lyons (Anchorage, AK) and 14 kills from senior
Jessica Hill (Colorado Springs, CO) to win their second straight GNAC match, 3-1 over Saint Martin's University on Thursday night.
Despite missing senior
Megan Thigpen (Spokane, WA), who was unable to play due to illness, the Blue and Gold were able to outhit the Saint's .167-.109 and also had seven blocks as the team to improve to 10-12 and 4-7 in the GNAC.
The Nanooks gained a 4-3 lead on the Saints, and then went on a 12-6 run to hold the biggest lead of the set. Saint Martin's battled back with a 8-1 run of their own to tie the match at 17 before the Nanooks scored the last eight points to gain the 1-0 lead.
The second set was a much closer contest that saw nine ties and four lead changes before the Nanooks closed out the set with a 25-23 victory. The Saint's held the biggest lead of the match (three) but committed back to back errors with the scored tied at 23 to give the Nanooks a 2-0 lead.
Set three was controlled by the Saint's as they opened the match scoring nine of the first 13 points and never trailed after that for a 26-17 win.
The Nanooks got back to business in the fourth set and closed the match out with a decisive 25-18 victory. The Saint's jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Nanooks put their foot to the pedal and gained the lead for good at 8-7.
Mandy Grierson (Abbotsford, BC) finished an
Alexa Sherman (Calabasas, CA) set to end the set, and the match, for the Nanooks.
Head coach
Phil Shoemaker felt the team played well despite missing one of their top players. “The kids did a great job of dealing with adversity in short order.” stated Shoemaker. “They were tested under fire and they handled it very nicely.”
Lyons scored a double-double for the Nanooks with 12 kills and 15 digs. Hill had a match high 14 kills and also assisted on three blocks. Senior setter
Alexa Sherman had 41 assists to go along with nine digs and four kills. Junior middle
Erica Gage (Palo Alto, CA)had another strong match in the middle with three blocks and four kills.
Saint Martin's was led by Kristen Anderson who had a team high 11 kills while Kirstyn Druzianich had 10 kills. Brianna Bautista led the way defensively for the Saint's with 15 kills while Teilissa Tua had five blocks in the loss.
The Nanooks will return to action when they travel to Monmouth, OR to take on Western Oregon. Match time is set for 6:00 PM Alaska time.
