SEATTLE – The Alaska Nanooks stormed back and captured the final three sets to defeat the Seattle Pacific Falcons 3-2 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the Brougham Pavilion on Saturday night. The Nanooks went 22-25, 28-30, 25-17, 25-15 and 16-14 to improve their record to 10-10 overall on the season and push to 3-8 in conference play while the Falcons fall to 10-10 overall and 5-7 GNAC.
The win marks the first time since the 2009 that Alaska has had double-digits in the win column.
Four Nooks posted double-doubles on the night, led by senior setter
Rachel Nichols, who registered a season-best 47 assists and 18 digs. Nichols also chipped in three service aces, two block assists and one kill on the night. Redshirt-senior outside hitter
Maddie Davis led the Nanooks offensively with 15 kills and 15 digs, while freshman outside hitter
Lahra Weber also registered a double-double with 14 kills and 18 digs. Joining the party and rounding out the top-four was redshirt-freshman
Markie Miller, who posted 11 kills and 18 digs.
Senior middle blocker
Riley Podowicz boasted a game-best .412 hitting percentage, posting seven kills and no errors off of 17 total attempts. Sophomore libero
Jenna Hickel collected a game-high 27 digs, while Davis tied the game-high for two solo blocks.
As a team, the Nanooks registered a hitting percentage of .231 off of 62 kills, 22 errors and 173 total attempts with their best hitting set coming in the third, as they combined for a .387 average. In both the third and fourth set, the Nooks tallied a sideout percentage of 66. The Nanooks also posted a season-best night offensively, recording a 101 total digs as a team.
The Falcons were led by Hannah Lautenbach, who collected a game-high 20 kills and a team-high 19 digs. As a team, SPU combined for a team hitting percentage of .155 and edged the Nanooks in assists 60-58.
After two-straight weeks on the road, the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team returns to the Alaska Airlines Court to host the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks on Thursday, Oct. 26 before taking on the Central Washington Wildcats on Saturday, Oct. 28. Both matches are scheduled for 7pm AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.
