Box Score
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Oct. 20, 2011 - Despite Alaska taking a two sets to one lead, Simon Fraser rallied for a wild 3-2 (14-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-13, 15-13) victory on Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball at the Patty Center.
The Clan won for the first time this season and improved to 1-15 overall and 1-11 in conference play, while the Nanooks fell for the fifth time and dropped to 2-17 on the season and 2-9 in the GNAC.
Jessica Young tallied 14 kills for Simon Fraser and
Chelsea Elvy added 11, respectively. Libero
Alanna Chan accrued 23 digs, while
Danielle Curtis had 44 assists and
Kristjana Fridfinnson made five blocks.
“I think Simon Fraser's overall blocking was considerably better than ours,” Head Coach
Phil Shoemaker said. “In terms of general ball control, together better than we did in those particular sets [we lost].”
For Alaska, junior middle blocker
Casey Tidwell (Redlands, Calif./Manhattan College) had a career-high 16 kills and sophomore outside hitter
Keri Knight (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) chipped in 12 terminations, while freshman setter
Becky Martin (Cochrane, Alberta/Bow Valley) created plenty of scoring opportunities with her 43 assists.
“[Becky] and Casey have been working together all season long, so they're developing a good hitter-setter relationship,” Shoemaker said. “There's a trust between them and they have a great sense of timing.”
“Keri is a good player,” Shoemaker said. “She's definitely one of our more disciplined players. She works hard, tries to do things we ask her to do and just a good kid and hard worker who does what she can with what's she has.”
Junior libero
Allison Oddy (Chilliwack, British Columbia/Highroad Academy) turned in a match-high 25 digs and senior right side
Karlee Skalla (Las Vegas, Nev./Orange Coast CC) also contributed with seven kills and 18 digs, while freshman middle blocker
Morgan Tebbs (Queen Creek, Ariz./Queen Creek) added six kills and a career-high seven blocks.
The Clan outhit the Nanooks .186 (55-24-167) to .137 (49-27-161), while each team turned in eight blocks apiece.
In the final set, SFU trailed 5-4, but it scored five of the next six to take a 9-6 lead against Alaska. Teams traded points, but trailing 11-8, a Tebbs kill and attack error by the Clan got the 'Nooks to within a point at 11-10. Simon Fraser took the next two points, but a 3-0 run, capped off by a monster kill by Knight knotted the set at 13-13. Fridfinnson's kill on the following point put SFU on match point, and the it closed the match with an attack error by UA.
The Nanooks cruised to a 1-0 lead with a 25-14 decision in the opening frame. Alaska scored eight of the first 11 points and led by double digits for the majority of the set.
In the second set, Alaska led 20-16 before Simon Fraser took nine of 10 to rally for a 25-21 victory to even the match at 1-1.
The home team took back the one-set advantage with a 25-18 win in the third. Leading 6-5, the Nanooks scored seven in a row for a 13-5 advantage. They led 22-12 before SFU went on a 6-1 run to close to within 23-18, but a service error by the Clan and a kill by Tidwell gave the Nanooks the set.
With the fourth set tied at 5-5, SFU went on a 12-2 run to hold a comfortable 17-7 lead. Alaska never drew closer than seven as the Clan ended the frame winning seven of nine points for a 25-13 win to set up the fifth and final set.
The Nanooks return to action Saturday at 3 p.m. when they host Western Washington.
Live stats and
free live video will be available for Saturday's contest.
