Box Score FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team had its two-match home winning streak come to an end on Thursday night as they fell 3-0 (14-25, 20-25, 22-25) to Simon Fraser in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
The loss marks the third-straight defeat for Alaska (2-14, 2-7 GNAC), as Simon Fraser (9-8, 5-4 GNAC), who is the top dig team in the GNAC, held the Nanooks to a .092 hitting percentage. Senior Sam Harthun returned to action after a two-match absence and led the team with eight kills, ending her nine-match double-digit streak.
"I think tonight is a match that we will look back at after the season is over and wish we could have back," said head coach Brian Scott. "We have to see what we can learn from tonight and make some improvements in practice. We have to make sure we are ready to compete against a really good Western Washington on Saturday. We went after it in the third set, and that started with our blocking. We didn't have a single block in the first two sets, but finished the night with five."
Miranda Grieser handed out 14 assists to give her double-digit helpers for the second-straight match. The senior setter has now posted double-digit assists in 41 of her 42 career games with Alaska. Redshirt senior Samantha Hesterman paced the Nanook defense, who collected 47 digs, with 13 digs. Hesterman's performance marked the fifth time in the last six matches that the libero has collected 10-or-more digs.
After not collecting a single block in the first two sets, the Nanooks collected five in the decisive third frame. Junior Lilah Hudson collected four assisted blocks in the frame and Harthun added a solo block.
The Clan opened up set one with a 15-6 lead and eventually took a 10-point advantage at 20-10, before winning the frame 25-14. The Nanooks fell behind 16-6 in set two, but rallied back to pull within three at 22-19, after a Grieser kill. Alaska scored only once more in the set, as SFU took a 25-20 victory.
The two teams were deadlock at 19-19 in the third and a quick 2-0 spurt gave the Nanooks a 21-19 lead after a Simon Fraser attack error. The Clan put the next five points on the scoreboard to take a 23-21 advantage, before capturing a 25-22 victory to win the match in straight sets.
Jessica Young led the SFU offense with a match-high 11 kills and hit an even .300. The Clan outhit Alaska .192-.092 and collected a 7-5 lead in blocks. Â
Alaska concludes its two-match GNAC home stand on Saturday afternoon, as they take on No. 16 Western Washington. First serve is set for 1 p.m. AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like Alaska Nanooks Volleyball on Facebook.
