Box Score LACEY, Wash. – Trailing 16-6 in set four, the Alaska Nanook volleyball team mounted an incredible rally to win 27-25, sealing a four set victory over Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival, Saint Martin's on Thursday night.
Alaska (3-19, 3-11) dropped the first set to Saint Martin's (4-21, 1-12), 25-19, before rattling off three straight wins, including in the dramatic fourth set. The Nanooks would win the sets by scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 27-25.
"Before we hit the court tonight, I told our team that mental toughness was going to win the match," said head coach
Mallory Larranaga. "With our captains' leadership and tenacity we stayed mentally tough and it powered us to the win."
Sam Harthun led all attackers with a match high 20 kills. An injury plagued lineup forced Coach Larranaga into several changes, but the Nanooks showed their camaraderie in the attack as
Tessa Butterfield, playing as a right side hitter, provided nine kills and
Riley Podowicz,
Brooke Mattice and
Miranda Grieser all contributed seven.
Defensively, Alaska was superb. In the backcourt, Butterfield led the team with 15 digs while
Samantha Hesterman (13) and Grieser (11) reached double figures as well. At the net, Podowicz was the match's dominant blocker with eight total blocks. Harthun (5), Butterfield (3) and
Lilah Hudson (3) were all involved to quell the Saint Martin attack.
"
Tessa Butterfield was an absolute stronghold for us tonight," Larranaga stated. "She attacked every position she played and gave the team everything she had."
After Saint Martin's won the first set, Alaska rallied to take the second 25-22 before heading into the locker room. In the third set, Alaska and Saint Martin's traded points, until the Saints threatened to take the game out of the boundary of an Alaskan comeback, with a 19-16 lead. However, the Nanooks would storm back, as they outscored the Saints 9-3 over the next period to take a 2-1 set lead.
Set four started as a monstrosity, as Saint Martin's jumped out to a seemingly insurmountable 16-6 lead. Once again, however, Alaska showed its grit as it would score 21 of the game's last 30 points to earn its second victory over Saint Martin's this season.
"I am so proud to be a Nanook tonight," exclaimed Butterfield. "My teammates proved how hard we train and fight for what we know we deserve. We never gave up on each other or the match and we never stopped supporting each other."
Alaska will now travel to take on Western Oregon on Saturday, November 1 at 6:00 p.m. The Nanooks defeated the Wolves at home earlier this season, 3-0, and will look to do the double on them before hosting in-state rival Alaska Anchorage next Saturday.
