FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Despite leading the game in five major statistical categories, the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team couldn't hang on in the fifth set and fell to the Concordia University Cavaliers 2-3 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup at the Alaska Airlines Court on Thursday night. Alaska went 22-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-18 and 12-12 against Concordia to drop the Nanooks' overall record to 2-12 (1-6 GNAC), while the Cavaliers improve to 8-7 overall (4-3 GNAC).

"Even though we lost tonight, I'm still pretty happy with how we played because it's been a while since we battled like that," head coach Brian Scott said following Thursday's game. "The past three matches we haven't seen that fight and it was really good to see it come out tonight. Really proud of how these girls fought for long periods of time tonight, we did a nice job offensively with our scoring, even our defense did well too. We played a really nice match against a really good team and we just came out at the wrong side of result."

As a team, Alaska posted 60 kills to Concordia's 55, while also posting a better hitting percentage of .230-.201. The Nanooks also outdid the Cavaliers in points (79.0-66.0), aces (10-4), blocks (9.0-7.0), assists (59-51) and digs (63-58) in the five-set heartbreaker, playing in front of a crowd of 245.

Individually, four Nooks recorded double-digit kills, led by junior outside hitter Maddie Davis, who posted a game-high 15 kills. Behind Davis was sophomore Amberly Jeane with 12 kills, while junior Riley Podowicz and freshman Kim Wong each registered 11 kills. Podowicz had a stellar night on the court, posting the game-highs in hitting percentage (.450), points (19.0) and service aces (5).

Junior setter Rachel Nichols posted a game-high 52 assists, marking her seventh consecutive game with 20-or-more assists. Redshirt-senior Meagan Olsen totaled the game-high 24 digs, while Jeane and Davis followed behind with nine digs each.

The Nooks got on the board first in the first set of the match, as Podowicz tallied one of her five service aces right off the bat. The first set saw 10 tie scores and seven different lead chances, the most of any set on the night. At the 4-5 mark, Alaska went on a four-point run thanks to a kill by Nichols, ace from Olsen and a couple attack errors from CU to give Alaska the lead 8-5. Later, a kill by freshman outside hitter Tatum Upchurch lead the game at 14-13, but Concordia went on a five-point run to make it 18-14. The Cavaliers went up to 22-17 but the Nooks continued to fight and went on a five-point run of their own to tie it up 22-22. Unfortunately, a service error and two kills plagued the Nooks to give CU the first set 25-22.

The second set was a back-and-forth battle, with teams exchanging points continuously until the 9-6 mark when Alaska was finally able to pull away for more than two points. The Nanooks were able to extend the lead to the 20-16 mark and never looked back, taking the second set 25-21.

Alaska came out hot after intermission, going on a four-point run to start the third set off with two service aces from Podowicz and kills from Jeane and Davis to make it 4-0 quickly. The Nooks held onto the lead until the 15-11 mark, before the Cavaliers went on a five-point streak to make it 15-16. Alaska was able to tie it up at the 16-16 mark from another kill by Davis before CU went on another five-point run to extend their lead 17-21. Alaska was unable to close the gap, as the Cavaliers took the third set 25-18.

In the fourth set, Concordia went on the board first with a kill before the Nanooks answered back with a kill of their own from Jeane. Neither team was able to extend their lead by more than two points until the 11-9 mark, when Alaska went on a four-point run which included another two aces from Podowicz. Alaska slowly but surely started to inch away from their opponent, capitalizing on kills and attack errors by Concordia. The Nooks finished the fourth set by going on a four-point run to make it 25-18.

In the 15-point fifth set, the Nanooks and Cavaliers stayed so close to one another, both teams recorded a combined seven tie scores and only two lead changes. The Nanooks had the advantage at the 7-4 point of the fifth set, but Concordia earned nine points in 11 plays to take the fifth set 15-12.

The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team returns to the Alaska Airlines Court on Saturday, Oct. 8 to take on the Western Oregon Wolves in another GNAC matchup at 7pm. The game will also be the team's "Dig Pink" night to support breast cancer awareness and encourage fans to dress in their favorite shade of pink.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.