University of Alaska Fairbanks Athletics

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Northwest Nazarene continued its recent hot streak Thursday, using big run after big run to win its sixth straight with a 3-0 sweep (25-12, 25-15, 25-21) of the Alaska women's volleyball team in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the Johnson Sports Center.
 
The Crusaders (7-2, 3-0 GNAC) had two players with double-digit kills, led by Andrea Terpstra's 13. Elayna Rice posted 10 kills, while Michelle Terpstra, sister of Andrea, tallied 35 assists. Northwest Nazarene hit .290 as a team and held Alaska (2-12, 1-2 GNAC) to its second-lowest hitting percentage of the season at .087.
 
Junior middle blocker Morgan McGrath (Queen Creek, Ariz./Business Administration) and sophomore outside hitter Sam Harthun (Oregon City, Ore./Art) had eight kills each to lead the Nanooks. Harthun also notched eight digs. Junior libero Tessa Butterfield (Grass Valley, Calif./Justice) led the team with a season-high 15 digs, and freshman setter Katelyn Camp (Newton, Iowa/General Studies) had 26 assists.
 
The Crusaders jumped on the Nanooks early, playing in front of their home crowd for the first time this season. Alaska held a 2-0 lead, but NNU went on a 14-2 run to take a 10-point lead, and then later went on a 7-2 run to close out the set at 25-12.
 
The Nanooks stayed within striking distance in the second set, keeping the score within three points up to a 10-7 Crusaders lead. Once again, however, the Crusaders would separate themselves – this time with a 10-3 run that gave them a 20-10 lead. They would trade points with Alaska from there for the 25-15 set win and a 2-0 match advantage.
 
Alaska did not let up in the third set, holding three different five-point leads at 6-1, 7-2 and 13-8. But Northwest Nazarene still had big runs in their bag, and it pulled out a 7-2 run to tie the set at 15. Back to back kills from junior middle blocker Britt Glaeser (Fairbanks, Alaska/Business Administration) gave the Nanooks a three-point advantage at 18-15, and a Harthun kill later gave them a two-point lead at 19-17, just six points away from taking their first set of the match.
 
The Crusaders went on their final run at that point, running off seven in a row to take a 24-19 set lead before closing out the sweep on a kill from Kaitlyn Tuholski.
 
The Nanooks continue their GNAC road trip at 6 p.m. AKDT Saturday in Ellensburg, Wash., against Central Washington. The Wildcats (5-6, 1-2 GNAC) fell to Alaska Anchorage (9-6, 3-0 GNAC) at home Thursday, 3-1 (15-25, 21-25, 25-12, 20-25).