Box Score FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanook volleyball team lost its opening match of the season, 3-0, to St. Edward's University (Texas) in a grueling first match of the Flint Hills Resources Alaska Nanook Classic.
Alaska lost in straight sets by scores of 25-21, 25-22 and 26-24.
Said head coach
Mallory Larranaga, "We love to win. And losing hurts. I told the team that I want this to hurt. But we had a lot of successes and a lot of individual successes. If we continue to build off of those we will put ourselves into positions to win."
Those individual successes included the play of
Sam Harthun and
Miranda Grieser. Harthun recorded a match-high 16 kills while Grieser produced a match-high 23 assists.
Tessa Butterfield had a strong game defensively with 14 digs to lead all players.
However, the Nanooks had 18 attacking errors and 11 service errors, both areas where the players know they will improve on in time.
"We're still fine-tuning things," said Harthun. "We're young and everyone makes mistakes, but I am confident that we will come out tomorrow much stronger."
Grieser echoed her teammate's belief saying, "I have a lot of confidence that we can improve. We know we are a talented team and in the short amount of time that we've spent together we have already formed a strong bond as a team."
St. Edward's was led offensively by Hannah Rauch with 15 kills. Kelly Loren was the team's top setter with 22 assists while Loren Kelly and Kelly Jimenez each had 13 digs.
The Nanooks are back in action against Tiffin University (Ohio) tomorrow following match two of the Flint Hills Resources Alaska Nanook Classic. That game features Tiffin taking on the SEU Hilltoppers at 5:00 p.m.
