Box Score
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Oct. 22, 2011 – In a back and forth Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball matchup, Western Washington pulled out a 3-0 win against Alaska Saturday afternoon at the Patty Center.
The Vikings won by scores of 25-19, 25-22 and 25-19 to improve to 12-5 on the year and 10-3 in conference play, while the Nanooks fell to 2-18 overall and 2-10 in the GNAC.
Marlayna Geary paced the WWU offense with a match-high 13 kills. Laurie Yearout tallied 35 assists and Samantha Hutchinson had 23 digs.
For Alaska, sophomore outside hitter
Keri Knight (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) turned in a team-high 12 kills, including a career-best .462 (12-0-26) attack percentage and senior right side
Karlee Skalla (Las Vegas, Nev./Orange Coast CC) contributed nine kills to go with 16 digs. Freshman setter
Becky Martin (Cochrane, Alberta/Bow Valley) had 34 assists, while junior libero
Allison Oddy (Chilliwack, British Columbia/Highroad Academy) led the 'Nooks with 17 digs.
The Vikings hit .270 (43-10-122) for the match to the Nanooks' .155 (39-19.129) and held a 5-2 advantage on blocks. They also committed just 10 errors to UA's 19.
In the opening set, Alaska led 10-8 before WWU scored the next five to grab a 13-10 advantage. The Nanooks kept it tight and tied the set on a couple of occasions, but the Vikings ended the first on an 8-2 run to take the first set 25-19.
Alaska led early once again 5-2 in the second, but Western scored nine of the next 12 to lead 11-8. After a pair of Nanook points, the Vikings used an 8-1 run to hold a comfortable 19-11 advantage. UA didn't go away and used an 11-3 run to tie the set at 22. A pair of kills by Breanna Graham and a service ace by Hutchinson gave WWU a 2-0 lead.
Western Washington led by just a point at 11-10 in the third, but four in a row gave the visitors a five-point advantage. Alaska cut the lead to two at 16-14, but the Vikings took four of the next five to lead 20-15. The Nanooks never drew closer than three the rest of the way.
Next week, Alaska hits the road for a pair of road GNAC contests. On Thursday, Oct. 27, the Nanooks take on Seattle Pacific and they will wrap up the trip Saturday, Oct. 29 at Montana State-Billings.
