University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

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FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The Alaska volleyball team led six statistical categories in Thursday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference match against Simon Fraser and also collected several individual bests, but it was the Clan who escaped with the 3-1 (25-23, 14-25, 25-21, 25-22) victory at the Patty Center.
 
The Nanooks (4-22, 3-12 GNAC) topped the Clan (11-10, 6-9 GNAC) in kills (64-53), hitting percentage (.294 to .278), assists (59-51), service aces (8-4), digs (66-45) and blocks (7.0-4.5). The 64 kills and 59 assists were both season highs for the team, and the 66 digs tied a season high.
 
Freshman outside hitter Cassidy Brewer (East Wenatchee, Wash./Business Administration) set career highs with 13 kills and a .480 hitting percentage to lead the Nanooks. Freshman setter Katelyn Camp (Newton, Iowa/General Studies) set a career high with 53 assists, the first time she has eclipsed the 50-assist mark. Camp also contributed 11 digs for her third career double-double
 
Redshirt sophomore libero Samantha Hesterman (Ormiston, Saskatchewan/Social Work) tied a career high with 18 digs to lead all players in the match. Sophomore outside hitter Sam Harthun (Oregon City, Ore./Art) posted her fifth double-double of the season with 23 kills and 12 digs. Thursday night was the second straight match that Camp and Harthun both recorded double-doubles.
 
The Clan was led offensively by Madeline Hait, who had 16 kills with no errors, hitting .593 in the match. She also had four block assists. Amanda Renkema had 12 kills and Kelsey Robinson had 10 for Simon Fraser.
 
Alaska led the opening set from the beginning and held a six-point lead midway through at 15-9, but Simon Fraser would go on a 9-2 run to take an 18-17 lead. From there the teams traded points until the Nanooks took a 22-20 advantage and looked poised to grab a 1-0 match lead. But the Clan would go on another run, this time outscoring the Nanooks 5-1 with the help of four Alaska errors and a kill from Robinson to win the first set 25-23.
 
Alaska tied the match at 1-1 with a dominating 25-14 second set victory. The Nanooks hit .481 in the set with 16 kills and only three errors, while holding the Clan to a .185 clip.
 
Simon Fraser hit .333 over the final two sets to hold off Alaska. The Clan led the third set the entire way, only allowing the Nanooks to get within one point once early on at 4-3.
 
Alaska showed fight in the fourth set after falling behind again at the start. The Nanooks overcame an early five-point deficit to tie it at 11-11, then later went on a 7-1 run to take an 18-15 lead.
 
But just as it had done in the first set, the Clan fought back to tie the set three times, up to 21-21. Simon Fraser then closed it out with a 4-1 run, accentuated by a kill from Devon May to an empty space in the back court to clinch the 3-1 match victory.
 
Alaska hosts No. 10 and GNAC leader Western Washington at 7 p.m. Saturday in its final home match of 2013. The Nanooks will hold Senior Night activities before the match to honor their lone senior, Knight.