FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Redshirt junior Maddie Davis collected her third career double-double on Thursday night to help the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team post its first straight-set victory since Oct. 2 of last season, as they defeated Western Oregon 3-0 (27-25, 25-19, 25-20) at the Alaska Airlines Court.
Davis' presence was felt all over the court Thursday night, as she collected 13 kills and 11 digs in the win. The redshirt junior hit an impressive .423 in the victory to help the Nanooks (6-20, 6-13 GNAC) collected a season-best .263 hitting percentage.
The Puyallup, Washington native was one of two Alaska players in the double-digit kill category, as senior Sam Harthun, who was honored prior to the match on becoming the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's all-time leader in kills, collected a match-best 16 kills and hit .256 in the victory. She enters her final collegiate match on Saturday with 1,486 career kills. Davis and Harthun's performance helped senior setter Miranda Grieser hand out a match-high 35 assists.
The Nanooks pick up its first straight-set victory since Oct. 4 of 2012, which also came against Western Oregon (7-20, 5-14 GNAC). Head coach Brian Scott credited his team for being able to adjust to what the WOU offense was doing and limit the Wolves more-and-more as the match went on.
"Nice effort by our girls tonight. You couldn't ask for a team to perform much better than we did tonight," said Scott. "We progressively got better each set. We made some nice adjustments to the tips and roll shots they were getting, and we ended up holding them to a .045 hitting percentage in that last set. So we really got it rolling at the end. It was an overall team effort tonight."
Alaska had to earn its victory in the first set, as the opening frame featured 17 ties and 10 lead changes. Western Oregon (7-20, 5-14 GNAC) was serving for set point with a two-point lead at 24-22, but could not seal the deal, as a service error gave Alaska service back with a chance to tie the set. The Nanooks took full advantage of the Wolves error, as Kensey Mix knotted the frame up at 24-all. After trading points, Alaska was finally able to close out the set with back-to-back kills from Harthun to take the 27-25 victory.
The Nanooks opened the second set with a 10-4 advantage before taking the frame 25-19 to go into the break with a 2-0 advantage. Alaska came out of the break and hit a remarkable .343 in the third and final set, while also limiting WOU to a .045 hitting percentage, to capture the straight-set victory.
Thursday's victory marks the sixth victory for Alaska this season. The six wins is the most by an Alaska teams since the 2012 season. The Nanooks close out the 2015 season on Saturday against Concordia (Ore.), as they have a chance to collect the program's first seven-win season since 2010. Saturday will also be senior night, as the team will honor Harthun, Grieser and Samantha Hesterman prior to the 7 p.m. start at Alaska Airlines Court.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter, or like Alaska Nanooks Volleyball on Facebook.
