FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Despite a strong effort coming out of the gate, the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team couldn't keep the No. 10 Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks at bay, as the Nooks fell 3-1 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the Alaska Airlines Court on Thursday night. Alaska took the first set 25-20 before the Nighthawks stormed back to steal the final three sets 13-25, 22-15 and 19-25.

The loss drops Alaska volleyball's overall record to 10-12 on the season and 3-10 in conference play, while the Nighthawks improve to 20-1 overall and 12-1 in GNAC matches.

"That's a great team we played tonight so, for sure they are going to execute at a high level. And you don't get to be ranked 10th in the nation without executing at a high level for a consistent amount of time and I think tonight that was the difference-maker between us and them," head coach Brian Scott said on Thursday. "We definitely had moments where we did very, very well and did a lot of good things. We executed out game plan and put some pressure on them on service receive and forced them to get out of system."

Freshman outside hitter Lahra Weber paced the Nanooks offensively, registering her third double-double of the season with 11 digs and a career-best 20 kills on the night. On top of Weber's 20 kills, the Berlin, Germany native only had eight errors off of 44 total attempts to boast a .273 hitting percentage. Weber was the highest scoring Nanook on the night with 21.0 points.

Senior setter Rachel Nichols continues to prove her consistency on the court, collecting her eighth double-double of the season with a team-high 39 assists and 11 digs. Nichols also chipped in two block assists, one service ace and one kill against the Nighthawks.

Defensively, four Nanooks registered double-digit digs including Nichols, Weber, redshirt-freshman outside hitter Markie Miller (12) and sophomore libero Jenna Hickel, who posted a team-high 15 digs.

"I thought we had some really great moments defensively but I just think we weren't able to sustain that level of play throughout the match that really made the difference tonight," Scott continued. "But I am encouraged by the fact that we didn't roll over and there was a moment in the fourth set where I thought we might but we didn't and I really appreciate that from this group."

As a team, for the second-straight match the Nanooks out-dug their opponent 59-57 and also outdid them on the serving line, recording five service aces to three. The Nighthawks recorded 53 assists to the Nanooks' 49 and also out-blocked the Nooks 9.0-5.0.

Alaska registered 50 kills and 24 errors on 140 total attempts for a team hitting percentage of .186. The Nanooks' best offensive set came in the first, as they registered 16 kills and six errors off of 39 attempts for a team-best .256 hitting percentage. Alaska also combined for a .237 hitting percentage in the third set. The Nooks went 13-for-21 for a 61 percent side-out percentage.

Northwest Nazarene was led by outside hitter Kendra Bodine, who collected a team-high 18 kills and 13 digs to be the only other player on the court on Thursday to tally a double-double. Setter Hailey Cook totaled a game-high 45 assists while libero Shayli Siegfreid tallied a game-best 18 digs.

As a team, the Nighthawks recorded 54 kills and 16 errors off of 139 total attempts to combine for a .273 hitting percentage.

The Alaska Nanooks will look to bounce back on Saturday, Oct. 28 when they host the No. 25 Central Washington Wildcats in another GNAC matchup at the Alaska Airlines Court. First serve is 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.