FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Redshirt-senior outside hitter
Maddie Davis posted a career-best 20 kills but it wasn't enough to hold off the Concordia Cavaliers on Thursday night, as the Cavs stole three-straight sets to defeat the Nanooks 3-1 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the Alaska Airlines Court.
Alaska handily won the first set 25-14 before Concordia came back to post scores of 25-11, 23-25 and 23-25 to seal the victory.
The loss pushes the Nanooks' overall record to 10-16 overall and 3-14 in conference matches while the Cavs improve to 12-12 overall and 7-10 in GNAC play.
Coaches Corner
"There were good bad on both sides, we had a really great first set and they answered back with a great second set of their own. From that point forward, it was a battle to see who would take the next one. It was back-and-forth statistically, we outscored them in that fourth set but we just made three more errors than they did and that's the difference. Little tiny things matter. It's part of the growing process; learning how to whittle away at those little details and fine-tune them, be sharper." – head coach
Brian Scott said on Thursday.
Turning Point
After the Nooks captured the first set 25-14, Concordia went on a six-point run in the second set to steal the momentum at the 6-10 mark. Attack errors by the Nanook haunted the team throughout the remainder of the second set to send both teams into intermission with one set apiece. From that moment forward, Alaska was able to battle with the Cavs but Concordia was able to close out the third and fourth set to put the Nanooks on a five-game losing streak.
Inside the Box Score
- Davis' 20 kills on Thursday marks a new single-game career-high for the Puyallup, Washington native and tied the game-high
- Davis also led all Nanooks in hitting percentage, posting 20 kills and only two errors off of 39 total attempts for a hitting percentage of .462
- Prior to Thursday, Davis' single-game career-high in kills was 19 which she posted on Sept. 15, 2016 vs. Seattle Pacific
- Senior outside hitter Ari Horner also registered a career-best night, tallying five kills against the Cavaliers. Previously, Horner had only had three kills in a single game on two other occasions
- Senior setter Rachel Nichols posted a game-high 43 assists and a conference-best four service aces on the night
- Two Nanooks boasted double-digit digs, with freshman outside hitter Lahra Weber tallying 15 to sophomore libero Jenna Hickel's team-best 18
- Senior middle blocker Riley Podowicz collected two solo blocks and three block assists to lead all Alaska players at the net
Next Time Out
The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team will take on the Western Oregon Wolves on Saturday, Nov. 11 for 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.
