Box Score FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Senior outside hitter Sam Harthun collected her third double-double of the year and sophomore setter Dylan Branch came off the bench to hand out a career-best 16 assists, but it would not be enough to lift the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team to a victory, as Montana State Billings captured Saturday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference match, 3-1 (19-25, 29-31, 25-15, 14-25), against the Nanooks.
Harthun's presence was felt all over the court on Saturday afternoon, as the senior turned in a 15-kill, 14-dig effort to post her third double-double of the season. The 14 digs were a season-best and was just one shy of tying her personal-best record in digs. It was the second-straight 15-kill performance for the senior, as she extends her season-best double-digit kills streak to seven matches.
Branch had her best outing in a Nanook (0-11, 0-4 GNAC) uniform on Saturday, as the Murrieta, California native handed out a career-high 16 assists off the bench for Alaska. The setter played a huge role in the set-three victory for the Nanooks, as she handed out seven assists in the 25-15 set win.
Despite the loss, the Nanooks were able to take a set in their second-straight contest. Alaska has now won nine set on the year through the first 11 contests, a feat that took the Nanooks 16 matches to accomplish last season. Alaska was able to hit over the .200-mark in back-to-back sets for the first time since the season-opener, as they hit .208 in the second set and .333 in the set-three win.
"We had a couple of unlucky things happen to us today," said head coach Brian Scott. "We ran out of subs at the end of the second set and that forced us to play with a small front court, which ultimately cost us the set. But our girls executed the game plan perfectly in sets two and three, but we had too many service errors in the first set. Also, in the fourth set, ball control was an issue for us. We were able to push someone for two sets, and that's a step forward for us. So we have to keep building off of the progress we're making.
Montana State Billings (2-10, 1-3 GNAC) came out of the gate hitting a crisp .231 to take a 25-19 opening-set victory. The two teams played to a stalemate in the second set, as it would take more than 25 points to declare a winner. The Nanooks were unable to seal the set, as the Yellowjackets battled back from a 24-22 deficit to knot the frame up at 24-all. The two teams continued to battle back and forth, but it would be MSU B stringing two consecutive points together, as they won 31-29, to take a 2-0 lead going into the break.
Alaska turned in one of their better performances of the year in set three, as they hit .333 and collected their first double-digit set win since the season-opening set against Minot State, as pulled within one of Montana State Billings after a 25-15 victory.
MSU B would recover, as they scored the first seven points of the fourth set to cruise to a 25-14 win to take the victory 3-1.
Freshman Amberly Jeane posted her fourth double-digit kill match of the season, as she collected 11 kills. Senior setter Miranda Grieser extended her double-digit assists streak 37 matches with her 20-assist performance. Libero Samantha Hesterman also turned in a double-digit dig performance for the third time in the last four matches, as she collected 10.
Ashlynn Ward led the Montana State Billings offense, as she collected a match-high 20 kills. Ward hit .267 and helped her team to a .231-.126 hitting advantage over the Nanooks.
Alaska continues its four-match GNAC home stand next Thursday, Oct. 1, as they host Saint Martin's (Wash.) at 7 p.m. at the Alaska Airlines Court.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like Alaska Nanooks Volleyball on Twitter.
