Box Score FAIRBANKS – Despite winning a grueling first set over No. 16 nationally ranked Northwest Nazarene, 28-26, the Alaska Nanook volleyball team lost in four sets on Thursday night at the Patty Center Gymnasium.
The Nanooks (2-18, 2-10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) came from 23-20 down in the first set to prevail by 28-26 tally before they dropped the next three sets by scores of 18-25, 17-25 and 17-25.
"This team handles pressure really well," said
Brooke Mattice about the comeback in the first set. "We knew that if we just kept doing things the right way we'd be able to win."
Freshmen
Riley Podowicz and Mattice led the Alaska attack as they hit .353 and .306, respectively, in 53 combined attacks. Podowicz recorded eight kills from her middle blocker position while Mattice
slammed 13.
Sam Harthun produced a match-high 17 kills on 56 total attacks.
Miranda Grieser also had a standout game with 40 assists and a team-high 16 digs. At the net, defensively, the Nanooks were once again led by Podowicz, who had four total blocks.
"We stuck to our game plan of mixing things up," said Grieser. "If a tip or a soft hit wouldn't work, we weren't afraid to try it again to keep them off balance. That's where a lot of our points came from."
The Crusaders (18-2, 11-1 GNAC) were led offensively by Elayna Rice who had 16 kills and defensively by Taylor Roberts who had a match-high 18 digs. Setter Michelle Terpstra contributed 17 digs and a
match-high 49 assists.
Alaska is back in action on Saturday against the No. 23 Central Washington Wildcats. The game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. and will serve as Dig Pink Night, where the Nanooks will wear pink warmup jerseys to raise breast cancer awareness.
