Box Score
FAIRBANKS, AK - The Alaska Nanooks finished the 2009 season with a thrilling 3-2 win over Northwest Nazarene at the Patty Center on Saturday night. The Nanooks used double-digit kills from three players and sent the senior class out with a bang.
The Nanooks took control of the match in the first set and brought home a 25-18 victory. Alaska out hit the Crusaders .235-.129 and
Jessica Hill (Colorado Springs, CO) had six of her 17 kills to pace the Nanooks. The Nanooks broke a 10-10 tie with a 7-3 run to put the match out of reach and take the 1-0 lead.
The Crusaders came out and even the score in a one sided second set. The Nanooks fell behind 16-7 and never closed the game closer than that, to drop the set 25-13.
The third set proved to be the closest of the night but saw the Nanooks come out victorious, 26-24. The Nanooks had a comfortable 19-14 lead before Northwest Nazarene mounted its comeback. An Alaina Barber kill tied the score at 23. The Nanooks were able to regained momentum and used two
Jessica Hill kills to seal the victory.
Not to be outdone, Northwest Nazarene battle back and hit .333 in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth set, winning 25-15. Despite five kills from
Megan Thigpen (Spokane, WA) the Nanooks fell behind and could not recover. The Crusaders jumped out to a 9-3 lead and closed the match on a 5-1 run for the win.
Alaska took an early 4-1 lead on Northwest Nazarne in the fifth set before the Crusaders clawed back to tie the game at seven. The set saw four lead changes but Alaska never trailed. With the score tied at 11 the Nanooks ran off four straight points highlighted by a
Jessica Hill kill that ended the set, and the match.
Despite the win, the Nanooks were out hit .239-156 and were out blocked 10-4 by Northwest Nazarene.
The Nanooks were paced by senior
Megan Thigpen who had a match-high 20 kills to go along with nine digs and two service aces. Hill (17) and
Heather Lyons (Anchorage, AK) (15) were the other Nanooks with double-figure kills.
The Nanooks also were stout on the defensive end with eight different players with five or more digs. Senior
Alexa Sherman (Calabasas, CA) and Lyons each led the way with 13 digs each as
Allison Oddy (Chilliwack, BC) (12), Thigpen, Hill (7), and
Jennifer Holland (Sterling, AK) (7) also highs in digs. Senior
Hannah Armstrong (Eagle River, AK) was also strong defensively as she added five digs in the victory.
Sherman had a match-high 52 assists and two kills in her final match as a Nanook.
The Crusaders were led by Alaina Barber who had a team high 15 kills while teammate Carly Dranginis had 13 of her own. Haley Hevern had a match high 25 digs and was one of three Crusaders with double-digit digs. Eki Punimata (30) and Amy Higginson (19) both had 15 or more assists.
The Nanooks finished the season with a 12-15 record and were 6-10 in the GNAC.
