Box Score
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - In a very competitive back-and-forth Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball matchup, Central Washington downed Alaska 3-0 on Thursday evening at the Patty Center.
The Wildcats won by scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 25-21 to improve to 13-10 on the year and 7-8 in conference, while the Nanooks fell to 2-21 overall and 2-13 in the GNAC.
“We worked hard but aren't very happy [with the result],” head coach
Phil Shoemaker said. “Central is a very good team and I was really impressed with the quality of its defense and the effort tonight. I felt in terms of effort and what we were attempting to do, we were equal to that. Bottom line is we made a few too many offensive errors and it cost us. It was a battle and it was close but it didn't go our way.”
CWU was led by Jordan Offutt who turned in a match-high 11 kills, while Erin Smith tallied 10 terminations and a match-best three blocks, respectively. Kaely Kight contributed a match-high 27 digs and Carlee Marble had a solid 37 assists for the Wildcats.
Senior outside hitter
Simone Chavous (Aurora, Colo./Bishop Machebeuf Catholic) led Alaska with 10 kills, while junior middle blocker
Casey Tidwell (Redlands, Calif./Manhattan College) added nine kills, a team-high .286 (9-3-21) attack percentage and two blocks.
It was a career night in the digs department as both senior right side
Karlee Skalla (Las Vegas, Nev./Orange Coast CC) and junior defensive specialist
Jordyn Montgomery (Topeka, Kan./Rockhurst University) combined for 40 digs. Skalla led the team with 21 digs and Montgomery, playing libero for injured
Allison Oddy (Chilliwack, British Columbia/Highroad Academy), had 19.
“Karlee is a sixth-position player every match so it's nothing new for her, but Jordyn is the only one who was really affected in that switch,” Shoemaker said. “I thought their effort was really good, they dealt really well with the switch.”
In the opening set, Alaska jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but Central took six of the next seven to grab a 7-5 advantage. Teams battled back and forth and trailing 18-17, CWU scored four in a row to take a 21-18 lead. The 'Nooks got to within two three times, but the visitors shut the door on the first set with a 25-21 win.
The Wildcats got off to a fast start in set two, leading 11-5. A 7-1 run by the Nanooks with three kills coming from Tidwell tied the frame at 12-12. Alaska climbed into the lead at 17-14, but CWU tied the set up at 18 after snagging four of five points. Teams traded points, but trailing 21-20, Central claimed three straight for a 23-21 advantage. The 'Nooks scored two of three to get to within one, but a Smith kill doubled CWU's match lead to 2-0 with a 25-23 win.
Both squads kept it tight in the third, but a 5-1 run by Central gave it a 14-10 lead. It extended the lead with three in a row to take a 22-16 advantage. Alaska scored four of five to get to within three at 24-21, but Smith again threw down a monster termination to give CWU a 25-21 set win and the 3-0 match victory.
“It was a great effort, but we need to continue to work hard and find ways to control ourselves offensively,” Shoemaker said. “In some cases, it's the hitters that need to get in better position and in other cases we need to set a better ball. There's a lot of different things and bottom line is we need to keep working hard and get on top of it.”
Alaska concludes its home schedule against Northwest Nazarene
(15-6, 10-4 GNAC) Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Live stats and
free live video will be provided for the contest with the Crusaders.
Saturday will also mark the final home match for Alaska's three seniors,
Simone Chavous,
Jordyn Montgomery and
Karlee Skalla. They will be honored prior to first serve of that match against NNU.
