Box Score LAIE, Hawaii – The 2011 Hawaii-Alaska Challenge certainly lived up to its name for the Nanooks over the weekend as Alaska was on the wrong end of a 3-1 setback against the BYU-Hawaii Seasiders to conclude their slate of Aloha State matches.
The Blue and Gold fell victim to an unscheduled block party by BYU-Hawaii who scored 13 blocks – more than tripling the four that Alaska was able to accumulate through the course of the four set contest.
The Nanooks did not come out sharp as they fell behind 7-1 to the Seasiders to begin the first set, but they did not misplace their fighting spirit. They clawed back to within two, but the early BYU-Hawaii spurt proved too meddlesome for the visitors as they fell behind 1-0 thanks to a 25-21 Seasider advantage.
The second set began much as the first, with BYU-Hawaii jumping out to a quick 3-1 advantage. Forced to play catch-up for most of the set the Nanooks responded to the challenge and played the Seasiders point for point throughout the majority of the set.
With the scoreboard reading 23-all, Alaska refused to surrender the second set as
Casey Tidwell (Redlands, Calif.) came up with a pivotal solo block. Coupled with an errant serve from the home squad the Nanooks and Seasiders were forced to take the set to extra points where
Keri Knight (Arvada, Colo.) scored a kill for the final point to knot matters at one set each.
Regrettably, in a mirror image of the first set, the Seasiders charged out of the gates for an 8-1 lead in the third set. Floundering through the remainder of the set, the Nanooks never got closer than four points away from the home team and fell into a 2-1 rut.
Not misplacing their determination, the Nanooks opened up the deciding set with a kill from
Simone Chavous (Aurora, Colo.) and traded points with BYU-Hawaii until the tally read 5-5. The Seasiders used a 6-1 spurt to pull away from Alaska for good.
Tidwell was the leader once again for the blue and gold, scoring a team-high 11 kills to go along with a solo block and two block assists.
Chavous, Knight and
Reilly Stevens (Riverside, Calif.) each chipped in nine kills to the effort while
Jaxon Hill (Clam Gulch, Alaska) contributed six kills in the loss.
Becky Martin (Cochrane, Alberta) led the way in the assist category with 36 as
Allison Oddy (Chilliwack, British Columbia) collected a team-high 19 digs in the loss.
The Seasiders were led by the 25 kills and 25 digs of Shih Ting Chen.
The Nanooks come home this week to begin a stretch of seven consecutive matches in the friendly confines of the Patty Center. First up is the No. 16 team in the nation when Minnesota State travels north to face Alaska. The Mavericks and Nanooks are set to do battle at 7 p.m. on Friday (September 1).
