FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanook volleyball team returns home for a weekend series against a pair of nationally ranked Great Northwest Athletic Conference foes in No. 16 Northwest Nazarene and No. 24 Central Washington.
Alaska takes on the Crusaders of Northwest Nazarene at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday before hosting the Wildcats of CWU on Saturday, also at 7:00 p.m.
Live StatsWatch Live"This weekend will certainly be challenging as we take on two very disciplined and aggressive teams," said head coach
Mallory Larranaga. "Both NNU and CWU are fast offensively but I am confident in the work our middles blockers have been doing in practice and that we can slow them down at the net."
Continued Larranaga, "Our serve and pass game this Thursday and Saturday will be critical to force them out of system and change their game plans."
In their most recent action, the Nanooks mounted an incredible rally, but fell just short in a thrilling but heartbreaking five set loss to the Falcons of Seattle Pacific last Saturday.
Alaska lost a tough first two sets by scores of 22-25 and 20-25 before storming back to take the next two sets 25-16 and 25-22. Then, in the fifth set, the Nanooks pushed the Falcons to the limit before falling just short in a 13-15 loss.
"Our five set match against Seattle Pacific, last weekend was incredibly valuable to our progress as a team," said Larranaga. "We fought really hard all the way to nail-biting end and we beat them in almost every statistical category. We proved to ourselves that we have the confidence and tenacity to step up when challenged. It is a big step in our maturity as a young team."
Statistically
Sam Harthun had a match-high 29 kills, more than double of any other player.
Brooke Mattice (12) and
Maddie Davis (11) recorded double-digit kills while
Miranda Grieser was also instrumental in the Nanook attack as she contributed a match and career-high 49 assists to go along with three service aces.
Davis and
Riley Podowicz were also beasts at the net defensively, as they contributed eight and 11 total blocks, respectively. In the back court Butterfield led the team with 17 digs while Davis (11), Hesterman (11) and
Meagan Olsen (10) all produced double-figure digs.
Thursday's match is designated as Superhero Night, where the Nanooks will recognize the campus' fire and police departments, and thank them for their service.
Students and fans should come dressed in their favorite superhero outfits and attire as there will be a costume contest, where the winner will receive a gift card to the Comic Shop.
"Thursday is Super Hero Night and as fun as it is to dress up and pretend to be a superhero, we want to recognize the real life superheroes from the campus and our community," said Larranaga. "We are thankful for their selfless service, daily."
Saturday is the annual Dig Pink event where Alaska will be wearing pink warmup shirts in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness.
The Breast Cancer Detection Center will be in attendance to also raise awareness.
