FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball concluded the 2017 season on a high note, defeating the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets 3-2 in a five-set Great Northwest Athletic Conference thriller at the Alaska Airlines Court on Saturday afternoon. The Nooks went 16-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-25 and 15-11 against the Yellowjackets to finish the season with an overall record of 12-17 and 5-15 in conference play while MSUB drops to 9-21 overall and 5-15 in GNAC contests.

The Nanooks' 12 wins ties the most in a single season since 2009 when the Nooks went 12-15 overall. Additionally, the 12 victories marks the most for head coach Brian Scott since taking over the program in July in 2015.

"Today, we really preached being disciplined and remembering what we've practiced throughout the season," Scott said on Saturday. "I believe everyone is itching to get back in the doors and get back to work because we know good things are happening for this program. We know we have an opportunity to turn this program into something great."

A pair of Nooks registered double-doubles on Saturday afternoon, with redshirt-senior outside hitter Maddie Davis leading the way with a game-best 18 kills and 13 digs. Following closely behind was freshman outside hitter Lahra Weber who registered 15 kills and 12 digs for the Nanooks. Both Davis and Weber tallied two service aces against the Yellowjackets and one block assist each. Weber's 15 kills and two errors off of 34 total attacks gives the Berlin, Germany a game-best .382 hitting percentage.

Sophomore outside hitter Gabby Lerma appeared in only four of Alaska's five sets today but made the most of her time, collecting 11 kills, four digs and one assist.

Sophomore setter Cate Whiting led Alaska in assists, posting 39 while senior setter Rachel Nichols chipped in 15. Defensively, sophomore libero Jenna Hickel tallied a team-best 29 digs against MSUB's offense.

As a team, Alaska posted 61 kills and only 22 errors off 172 total attempts to boast a .227 team hitting percentage. Alaska also registered 74 digs, 60 assists, six service aces and 4.0 team blocks. The Nanooks went 58-for-101 in five sets to total a team sideout percentage of .570. Furthermore, the Nooks tallied double-digit kills in four of their five sets on Saturday.

Saturday's game was also a farewell to seniors Maddie Davis, Ari Horner, Rachel Nichols and Riley Podowicz.

"Those four seniors, I love to death," Scott concluded. "Three of them were girls who were here when we became coaches and took over the program and they embraces us wholeheartedly. It's truly bittersweet to see the last bit of that group go on."

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