SEATTLE, Wash. -- Senior Sam Harthun had a night she will never forget on Thursday, as she not only became the school's all-time leader in kills, but helped the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team score a season-sweep of Seattle Pacific for the first time in seven years with an impressive 27-kill, 19-dig performance to win a thrilling five-set match, 3-2 (18-25, 27-25, 21-25, 25-18, 15-13).
Harthun entered the match needing just 21 kills to become the school's all-time leader and the senior delivered, as she collected 27 kills on the night to surpass her former head coach Mallory Bergstrom and become Alaska's all-time kills leader.
"The thing that means the most to me is how supportive so many people have been," Harthun said after the match. "I've already had so many people to thank me after the match, it's been completely overwhelming. I would not have been able to get this record tonight without my teammates. Miranda did an amazing job at placing the ball tonight and put me in a lot of good situations to get kills."
Harthun now has 1,370 kills in her career, which is the fifth most in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history. She is just 91 kills away from tying the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's all-time record of 1,461 set by Seattle's Alyson Givens, who played from 2002-2005. Harthun has now posted a remarkable 57 kills in her last two matches, as she collected a season-best 30 kills last week against Montana State Billings. With seven matches left in her career, Harthun is on pace to also become the conference's all-time leader in kills.
"We knew it was going to happen tonight," said head coach Brian Scott of Harthun's record-setting performance. "We knew she was going to have opportunities to get kills and do what she does best. Sam does a lot for this team. She supports her teammates and they support her back. Tonight is a milestone moment for our program and every girl that has ever played with Sam Harthun should feel a part of this record because she could not have gotten it without some spectacular teammates."
Harthun's performance sparked a come-from-behind five-set victory for the Nanooks. Alaska was down 2-1 after three sets to the Falcons, but rallied back to take the final two sets and win the match in thrilling fashion.
"We overcame a lot of adversity tonight," said Scott. "We were able to deal with it extremely well. We had a 21-16 deficit in the second set and came back and won. We got beat up in the third set, but we regrouped, stayed focused and came back and did what we are capable of doing in the fourth and fifth sets. This team did a lot of growing up tonight. I could not be any prouder of their performance tonight."
The victory for Alaska is the programs first at SPU since the 2008 season. That year also marks the last time the Nanooks swept the Falcons in the season series. The win also snaps a six-match losing streak for Alaska and it is also the first road win for the Nanooks under Scott.
"It's great for these girls," Scott said of picking up a road win and sweeping Seattle Pacific. "We need to experience things like we did tonight. We need to experience how to come back from behind to win. We need to experience winning games on the road. Tonight was just another part of our development process."
Sophomore Maddie Davis and Riley Podowicz each turned in a strong offensive performance, as both players turned in an eight-kill effort. Podowicz, the GNAC lead in service aces, collected one service ace on the night.
Senior Miranda Grieser enjoyed her second-straight career night in the assists department, as the Maple Valley, Washington native handed out a career-best 55 kills. Over her last two matches, Grieser has collected an impressive 108 assists, as she has strung together back-to-back 50-plus assists performance for the first time in her career. The senior also posted her second-straight double-double, as she added 10 digs. It is the fifth double-double of the year for Grieser and the seventh of her career.
Junior libero Meagan Olsen once against led the defensive effort for Alaska, as she added a team-best 22 digs on the night. Harthun collected a career-best 19 digs in the win to post her fifth double-double of the season, tying Grieser for the team lead in that department. Olsen, Harthun and Grieser helped Alaska to a 73-dig performance on the night, as they limited Seattle Pacific to a .096 hitting percentage on the night.
Juniors Lilah Hudson and Kensey Mix continued their improved play at the net, as each player collected one solo block and five assisted blocks. In total, the Nanooks posted a season-best 13 blocks in the five-set victory.
Alaska concludes its four-match GNAC road trip on Saturday, as they take on Saint Martin's. The Nanooks will also be going for the season sweep of the Saints, as they defeated SMU in four sets in Fairbanks earlier this season. First serve on Saturday is set for 6 p.m. AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like Alaska Nanooks Volleyball on Facebook.
