Box Score
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Kristyn Ross tallied 22 kills and 21 digs to lead Saint Martin's to a 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball victory against Alaska in the season finale on Saturday at Capital High School Gymnasium.
The Saints won by scores of 25-18, 25-19, 20-25 and 25-12 to improve to 7-18 overall and 5-13 in conference while Alaska dropped to 2-23 on the year and 2-16 in the GNAC.
Kristeen Jaurez also posted a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs for SMU and Cymbree Decosta had 44 assists while Teilissa Tua made six blocks, five of which were assisted.
“Saint Martin's played well and they were certainly fired up and wanting to do things right for their seniors,” head coach
Phil Shoemaker said. “There was no lack of energy.”
Senior outside hitter
Simone Chavous (Aurora, Colo./Bishop Machebeuf Catholic) led the Alaska attack with 15 kills, while senior right side hitter
Karlee Skalla (Las Vegas, Nev./Orange Coast CC) contributed nine kills and a team-high 17 digs.
SMU opened the match with a 25-18 win in set one. With the frame tied at 15-15, the Saints scored five of six to take a 20-16 lead. After a pair of points by the 'Nooks, Saint Martin's closed the book on the opening set with five straight points.
The lead doubled after SMU took a 25-19 victory in the second. It was tight for most of the set, but leading 17-15, the home team got four of five to grab a 21-16 advantage. Teams traded points a couple times, but with a 23-19 lead, the Saints got the second set win with a pair of errors by Alaska.
The Nanooks got back in it with a 25-20 third-set victory. They jumped out to a 7-3 lead early, but SMU rallied and eventually took the lead at 11-10. Trailing 18-17, UA got six straight to lead 23-18. Saint Martin's scored twice, but kills by Chavous and Skalla got the Nanooks on the board.
In the fourth, SMU took advantage of the Alaska errors to win 25-12 and take the match. Leading 12-9, the Saints got six in a row for an 18-9 advantage and only allowed three more points to end the contest.
“We realize there's a lot of work to do, but we're anxious to get started to put a much better team on the court next season,” Shoemaker said. “Today's match was a lot like a lot of our matches in the sense that there was some good volleyball played and we certainly showed we could play well enough to win, but we didn't do that often enough.”
