Box Score
NAMPA, Idaho, Oct. 6, 2011 – Behind match-highs of 21 kills and six blocks by
Haley Abbott, Northwest Nazarene picked up a 3-1 (25-20, 25-15, 18-25, 25-17) Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball victory against Alaska on Thursday evening at the Johnson Sports Center.
The win improved the Crusaders to 8-5 overall and 5-3 in conference play, while the Nanooks fell to 2-14 on the year and 2-6 in the GNAC.
“We certainly had a battle on our hands as Northwest Nazarene is a good team,” Head Coach
Phil Shoemaker said. “They did a great job of creating a lot of pressure by playing good defense, keeping the ball back in play and working hard to get good swings at the ball.”
Also for NNU,
Reisa Fessler had nine kills and was one of three Crusaders to notch three blocks on the night.
Michelle Terpstra chipped in 26 assists and 14 digs, while
Kailey Trautmann and
Taylor Robers combined for 38 digs.
Alaska was led by junior outside hitter
Reilly Stevens (Riverside, Calif./Fullerton JC), who had 12 kills and added 14 digs, both team highs. Senior right side
Karlee Skalla (Las Vegas, Nev./Orange Coast CC) turned in nine kills and 12 digs, while junior middle blocker
Casey Tidwell (Redlands, Calif./Manhattan College) also had nine terminations to go with a team-high three blocks. Freshman setter
Becky Martin (Cochrane, Alberta/Bow Valley) also had a match-high 36 assists.
The Crusaders took a 1-0 lead despite trailing by as many as nine points in the opening set. The Nanooks jumped out to an 11-5 lead early in the frame, forcing NNU to call a timeout. The lead continued to grow, as Alaska scored five of the next seven to grab a 16-7 advantage. Then the momentum shifted when Northwest Nazarene went on a 15-2 run to take a 22-18 lead. The teams traded points, but a kill by
Kaitlyn Tuholski gave the Crusaders the first set.
The second set was tight as the two teams were tied at 9-9, but NNU scored five in a row resulting in a 14-9 lead for the home team and a timeout by Alaska. The Crusaders' lead stretched to 19-11 after they scored five of the next seven points, with three kills coming from Abbott in that span. The Nanooks got to within six on two occasions, but NNU closed out the set on a 4-0 run to take the 2-0 match lead.
The Nanooks broke a 2-2 tie early in the third set with an 8-1 run to grab a 10-3 advantage. Alaska stretched the lead to 17-8 forcing NNU to call timeout. The Crusaders got to within six points twice later in the set, but the Nanooks closed the third frame with a seven-point victory.
Northwest Nazarene opened the fourth set with a 4-0 run and never gave up the lead. Alaska cut the lead to two at 5-3, but NNU came back with six of the next seven points in the set to grab an 11-4 advantage. NNU led by as many as nine points at 18-9, but the Nanooks closed to within four at 20-16. The Crusaders responded by taking five of six points to close out the match.
“There's no question we've improved, but consistency remains to be our greatest rival,” Shoemaker said. “There are stretches and moments that we look as good as anyone we play. Then, in the next rotation, we turn around and do things that just aren't good volleyball. I honestly believe we can turn this thing around and we could become a good team the second half of the season but it's a battle to find that level of consistency and aggressiveness we need.”
Alaska returns to action Saturday at Central Washington (9-7, 3-5 GNAC) in Ellensburg, Wash. First serve is set for 6 p.m. and
live stats and
free live video will be available for the match.
