BILLINGS, Mont. – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team fell to Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent Montana State Billings on the road 20-25, 17-25 and 25-27 at the Alterowitz Gymnasium on Friday night. The win gives the Yellowjackets their first conference win of the season, improving to 2-12 overall and 1-4 in the GNAC while the Nanooks fall to 2-11 overall and 1-5 in conference play.

Junior outside hitter Maddie Davis led the Nanooks offense collecting a team-high seven kills on the night, while sophomore outside hitter Amberly Jeane ranked second on the team with six kills. Freshman outside hitter Tatum Upchurch recorded the best hitting percentage of the Nanooks with a .273. Junior setter Rachel Nichols posted a game-high 26 assists, while redshirt-senior Meagan Olsen totaled 12 digs for the Nanooks.

As a team, Alaska recorded 31 kills on the night, with 15 kills coming in the third set alone. Montana State Billings was led by Miranda McConnell, who posted 10 kills, while libero Kylee Cornelio posted a game-high 16 digs. The Yellowjackets out blocked the Nanooks 9.0-8.0.

Thanks to a Yellowjacket attack error, the Nanooks went on the board first in the first set to give Alaska their first point of the game. MSUB found a rhythm early and went on a four-point run to take the lead 3-4 due to an attack error by freshman Kim Wong. The trend continued as MSUB went on three other four-point runs to lead the Nooks 12-17. Davis turned the heat on, breaking the Yellowjackets Pointstreak with a kill, two service aces and double-attack errors by MSUB to tie the set at 17-17. The Nanooks were able to stay within two points of the Yellowjackets until the 20-23 mark, where MSUB capitalized on two attack errors by the Nanooks to take the first set 20-25.

MSUB earned three points in the second set before Alaska earned their first and maintained the lead for the remainder of the set. At the 5-9 point, kills by Wong and two by Upchurch helped the Nanooks pull to within one at the 8-9 mark but MSUB responded by going on a six-point run to extend the lead to 9-17 with Mataia Robinson recording four-straight aces against the Nanooks. Despite a late six-point run by the Nanooks to pull to 17-23, MSUB hung on to capture the second set 17-25.

The Nanooks came back from intermission with determination, putting the first point on the board in the third set with an assisted block by junior middle blocker Riley Podowicz and junior outside hitter Angela Molesworth. Back-and-forth play ensued, as the Nanooks and the Yellowjackets would tie the score nine times throughout the third set. Unfortunately, momentum swung in the direction of the home team, as a kill by MSUB and an attack error by Jeane helped MSUB to their first conference win, despite the extra push by the Nanooks

The Alaska Nanooks return home to take on the Concordia Cavaliers in another GNAC matchup on Thursday, Oct. 6 at the Alaska Airlines Court at the Patty Center. First serve is slated for 7pm.

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