Box Score FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanook volleyball season came to a close on Saturday night, in a hard-fought, three set loss to visiting Simon Fraser. The Nanooks lost by set scores of 23-25, 25-27 and 23-25.
Alaska (3-23, 3-15) honored its lone senior, Tessa Butterfield, as part of its senior night festivities. For the game, Butterfield had 12 digs, five kills, three assists, a block and a service ace.
The Clan (17-9, 11-7) started quite basically, and the Nanooks were able to take full advantage, jumping out to a 13-6 lead. However, Simon Fraser was able to battle back, scoring 13 of the games next 18 points, to take a 19-18 advantage. With several volleys going on for extended periods of time, either team could have prevailed, but it was the Clan who unfortunately came out on top.
In the second set, the Nanooks and Clan fought a see-saw game, with the Nanooks on top for most of it. Alaska led, late, by a 23-22 tally. However, they once again could not put the game to bed as Simon Fraser earned the 27-25 win.
The third set was similar to the first two, in that the Nanooks led late, 20-18, but couldn't find the killer blow, and in the mayhem between timeouts, Simon Fraser took the lead that it would not relinquish.
Brooke Mattice and Riley Podowicz were the team's top performers, offensively, as they contributed 12 and seven kills on respective hitting percentages of .310 and .462. Samantha Hesterman and Sam Harthun had 13 digs on the defensive side, while Podowicz also had a match-high five blocks.
Miranda Grieser and Dylan Branch paced the offense with 19 and 14 assists, respectively.
For the Clan, Devon May slammed 19 to the floor to lead all attackers and Alison McKay had 14 digs.
With Western Oregon's three set loss to Montana State Billings, the Nanooks will finish the regular season in a tie with the Wolves for eighth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
