[Box Score]
FAIRBANKS, AK – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball squad bested Charleston 3-2 (25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 24-26, 15-11) to move to 1-0 in the Nanook Classic Friday night.
Every set was a battle. Neither team could take consecutive games, and it took a late run in the tie-breaking fifth set to settle the match.
The Nanooks limited errors and played their best volleyball in that final set, committing just two errors to Charleston's five. They took advantage of every mistake on the other side of the net and finished with a .273 hitting percentage of their own.
Three Nanooks finished in double-digit kills on the night, including team leader
Tereza Bendlova. Bendlova finished with 19,
Erica Gage with 11 and
Julie Gilhuly with 10. Setter
Mandy Grierson added seven kills and finished with 44 assists.
The Nanooks stayed competitive all night by playing stellar defense. They finished with a season-high 12 total blocks.
Jordyn Montgomery led with 14 digs. Bendlova finished with eight digs, one block solo and five assists.
Marybeth Wikander tallied seven assists.
Earlier in the night, Cal State East Bay swept Bellarmine (25-21, 25-23, 25-18).
With the win, the Nanooks improve to 2-3 on the season.
The Nanook Classic picks up Saturday morning at 11 a.m. when Charleston is set to play Cal State East Bay. Session two continues at 1 p.m. with Alaska vs. Bellarmine. Session three begins at 6 p.m. with Bellarmine vs. Charleston, and the tournament closes with at 8 p.m. with Alaska vs. Cal State East Bay.
