University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

BELMONT, Calif. – The Alaska Nanooks women's volleyball team got a second set victory Saturday for the first time this season, but the Cal State LA Golden Eagles prevailed by winning sets 3 and 4 to defeat the Nanooks 3-1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-12, 25-15) in the Route 92 Showdown at Gleason Gym.
 
The teams were deadlocked in a back-and-forth battle for most of the first set. Neither team led by more than two points as the set saw 14 ties and five lead changes leading up to a 16-16 score. Alaska (0-10) got four kills from senior outside hitter Keri Knight (Arvada, Colo./Business Administration) and three from junior middle blocker Britt Glaeser (Fairbanks, Alaska/Business Administration) during that stretch.
 
The Golden Eagles (5-2) finally separated themselves with three straight points, starting with back-to-back Nanooks errors and capped by a kill from Kymberly Silveyra, giving them a 19-16 lead. Alaska would close the gap again to two points at 20-18, but four straight points that included two kills from Iona Lofrano and one kill and an ace from Silveyra all but sealed the 25-20 opening frame victory for Cal State LA.
 
Alaska carried its momentum from the early part of the first set into the second, running off four straight points to open with a 4-0 lead thanks to two kills from sophomore outside hitter Sam Harthun (Oregon City, Ore./Art) and two Golden Eagles errors. Cal State LA got within one point at 7-6 with three straight kills from Lofrano, but Alaska staved off the surge with a 5-1 run, capped by back-to-back kills from Knight.
 
Cal State LA made another push to make it a two-point set at 21-19, but Alaska would put away the second set victory for good with four straight points. A kill and an ace from Knight, followed by consecutive kills by Harthun sealed the set and tied the match at 1-1.
 
Alaska hovered within striking distance during the third set, staying within 3-5 points for much of the early goings and only trailing 15-10 at the midway point. But Cal State LA would rattle off a 10-2 run to win the set going away, 25-12.
 
The fourth set was much of the same, with the Golden Eagles jumping out to an early 5-1 lead. Alaska kept pace from there, holding the deficit at four until it could get on a roll to close the gap, but after back-to-back errors by the Nanooks and a kill by Sylveira, the Golden Eagles led by seven (18-11) and would go on to win the set and the match from there.
 
The Nanooks close out their competition at the Route 92 Showdown tonight with a match against co-host Notre Dame de Namur at 6 p.m. AKDT.