FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Despite double-digit kills from four different players and a comeback to push for a fifth set, the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team fell 2-3 to the Saint Martin's Saints in Saturday afternoon's match at the Alaska Airlines Court. The Nooks went 25-17, 23-25, 20-25, 25-22 and 13-15 against the Saint's in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference match, moving the Nanooks to 2-6 overall (1-1 GNAC), while the Saints improve to 5-1 (1-1 GNAC).
Redshirt-junior Maddie Davis registered her second double-double of the season, leading the Nanooks with 16 kills and collecting 10 kills. Freshman Kim Wong had a standout performance from the middle, blasting a personal-best 15 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Amberly Jeane and junior outside hitter Angela Molesworth each chipped in 10 kills, while junior setter Rachel Nichols recorded 54 assists, 11 digs and five kills. Redshirt-senior libero Meagan Olsen posted 18 digs and four assists on the night.
Saint Martin's was led by 17 kills from outside hitter Rebecca Mitchell and libero Cassidy Apo, who tallied 14 digs. The Saint's barely out-hit the Nanooks with a .259 hitting percentage to Alaska's .253.
Despite surrendering the first point to the Saints, Alaska went on a four-point run to give the Nooks a 4-1 lead early on. Alaska held on to the lead to make it 20-11 but a seven-point run for the Saints made it 21-17 in a hurry. Alaska was able to hold on the lead thanks to an attack error from SMU, a service ace from Nichols and kills by both Molesworth and junior middle blocker Riley Podowicz to take the first set 25-17.
In the second set, Alaska went up first thanks to a kill from Podowicz to make it 1-0. Alaska led throughout the entire second set until the 23-23 mark, in which a kill by the Saints gave them their first lead of the set. Back-to-back kills from Saint Martin's gave them the second set, 23-25.
The entire third set proved to be a battle between the Nooks and the Saints, as neither team had more than a two-point lead over the other until the 16-14 mark. An eight-point run from the Saints late in the third set made it 18-21 in favor of SMU, with the Nooks never able to catch up, Saint Martin's captured the third set 25-20.
The fourth set proved to be a gritty one, as SMU took the lead at the 4-4 mark and kept it up until the 21-21 mark, thanks to a kill by Davis. Two attack errors from SMU, along with kills from Wong and Davis gave the Nooks the fuel they needed to push for a fifth set after taking the fourth, 25-22.
Alaska went down first in the fifth set, eventually tying it up at the 4-4 mark and taking the lead with a kill from Wong. An attack error from Davis tied it up 5-5 before SMU went on a four-point run to extend their lead 9-6. Alaska tried to close the gap left by Saint Martin's and pulled within one point at the 13-14 mark in the fifth set. A kill from SMU's Rachel Gondrezick sealed Alaska's fate, as Saint Martin's captured the final set 13-15.
The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team returns to the court on Friday, Sept. 23 at Simon Fraser University. The first serve is slated for 6pm PST. For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team page on Facebook.
