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FAIRBANKS, Alaska, Sept. 29, 2011 - Junior outside hitter
Reilly Stevens (Riverside, Calif./Fullerton JC) had a team-high 16 kills and added 19 digs and the Alaska volleyball team defeated Montana State-Billings 3-2 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup to notch its first home win of the season on Thursday evening at the Patty Center.
The Nanooks won by scores of 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-8. It was Alaska's second straight win to improve to 2-12 overall and 2-4 in conference play, while the Yellowjackets dropped to 8-6 on the year and 2-3 in the GNAC.
“It was a really good win,” Head Coach
Phil Shoemaker said. “Billings has proven to be a good opponent and they were again tonight. You have to find ways to be a couple points better at the end of the night and I'm really happy we were able to do that.”
Sophomore outside hitter
Keri Knight (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley) chipped in a career-high 14 kills and held an attack percentage of .310, also a career high. Senior right side
Karlee Skalla (Las Vegas, Nev./Orange Coast CC) and junior middle blocker
Casey Tidwell (Redlands, Calif./Manhattan College) each tallied 11 kills, while junior libero
Allison Oddy (Chilliwack, British Columbia/Highroad Academy) had a season-high 30 digs. Freshman setter
Becky Martin (Cochrane, Alberta/Bow Valley) also had career-highs of 47 assists, 13 digs and four kills.
Alaska took a 1-0 lead after taking the first set 25-21. Leading by just a point at 14-13, the Nanooks scored three in a row to grab a four-point advantage. MSUB got to within two on five different occasions, but leading 23-21, Knight's kill and an attack error by MSU-Billings'
Melissa Porter gave Alaska the one set lead.
The Yellowjackets rebounded in set two, taking the frame by a narrow 25-22 margin. The Nanooks surged out to a 15-10 lead in the set, but MSUB responded with a 7-1 run to take a 17-16 lead. Alaska answered with four of the next five points to regain the lead at 20-18, but Billings went on a 5-1 run to take control at 23-21. After a Nanooks point that cut the lead to just one, MSUB evened the match at 1-1 with a kill by
Taylor Adams and a service ace by
Chelsey Walter.
The Nanooks regained the match lead with a 25-20 win in the third set. Trailing 16-15, Alaska scored nine of the next 10 points to sit on set point at 24-17. The Yellowjackets fought back, winning the next three points, but after a Nanooks timeout, the home team got a kill out of Tidwell to close out the set.
MSUB forced a fifth set with a 25-21 win in set four. With the frame tied at 11-11, the Yellowjackets scored the next five to grab a 16-11 lead. Alaska closed the gap to just one at 22-21, but Billings finished the set with three straight points.
In the final set, the Nanooks jumped all over the Yellowjackets early and often. MSUB called a timeout after Alaska jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but the lead continued to grow as the Nanooks scored three more to hold a comfortable 7-1 advantage. Billings never got closer than five at 12-7 and the Nanooks closed the match on a 3-1 run to win their second straight outing.
The Yellowjackets were led by
Monica Grimsrud, who tallied a game-high 26 kills.
Morgan Moss and
Brooke Tolman added 27 and 21 digs, respectively. Tolman also had 46 assists as well.
Alaska returns to action Saturday at 3 p.m., when it hosts 15th-ranked Seattle Pacific at the Patty Center.
