VIRGINIA BEACH, Vir. – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team captured two important non-conference victories on Saturday morning, as the Nooks defeated Kutztown University (3-1) and the University of Mount Olive (3-0) in the opening day of the Viking Virginia Beach Invitational, hosted by Elizabeth City State University, at the Tidewater Volleyball Arena.

With the pair of Saturday victories, Alaska volleyball improves to 3-0 on the season, tying their win record from the 2016 campaign. The last time the Nooks won three-straight games was Oct. 29 – Nov. 5, 2015, where they posted wins over Seattle Pacific, Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene.

"I really liked our offensive performance in both matches today. We did exactly what we wanted to do by winning the serve receive battle and giving us an opportunity for a good pass and a nice hit," head coach Brian Scott said on Saturday. "We had a whole variety of hitters that were able to do things today so we had different people shining at different moments. It's really great for us to have so many offensive threats out there on the floor."

Versus Kutztown
The Nooks went 25-17 and 25-20 in the first two sets against the Kutztown Bears before dropping their first set of the season 21-25, only to come back and defeat KU 25-22 in a close fourth set. The match saw 15 ties and five lead changes, with the majority of both categories coming in the first set.

As a team, the Nanooks only posted 49 kills to the Bears' 58, but Alaska recorded a better hitting percentage with a .323 to Kutztown's .308. The Nanooks posted a 67 percent sideout percentage, going 55-of-81, while Kutztown went 55-of-89 to record a 61 percent rating. The Nanooks outdid their opponent in digs 35-28 while both teams recorded a team block total of 4.0.

Freshman outside hitter Lahra Weber led the Nanooks with 10 kills on Saturday, being the only Nook to register double-digit kills. Kutztown's Brittney Moyer led all players with 18 kills while KU's Jessica Howe followed closely behind with 10 kills of her own.

Senior setter Rachel Nichols and sophomore libero Jenna Hickel each registered seven assists against Kutztown for a team-high, while KU's Madisyn Kleinfelter led all players with 19 assists. Freshman setter Cate Whiting led all players with three service aces, while Hickel posted a game-high 12 digs.

Senior middle blocker Riley Podowicz was a force at the net, recording two solo blocks, while Whiting and redshirt-freshman Markie Miller each chipped in one apiece. Miller and Weber led all Alaska players with 10.0 points.

Versus Mount Olive
Alaska defeated the University of Mount Olive Trojans in three sets, marking the team's second three-set sweep of the season thus far. The Nooks went 25-13, 25-17 and 27-25 over UMO to claim their third-straight victory.

Lerma led all players in points in Saturday's afternoon game, as the sophomore transfer tallied the team's first double-double of the season, registering 10 kills and 10 digs, along with four assists and four service aces for 14.0 points. Lerma finished the game with a hitting percentage of .571 after going 10-of-14 in total attacks.

Podowicz tied Lerma for a team-high 10 kills but went 10-of-12 in total attacks to boast a hitting percentage of .667. The Olympia, Washington native also tallied one service ace and one block assist to total 11.5 points for the Nooks.

Ball distribution was evident against UMO, as nine of Alaska's 10 players who saw the court picked up at least one assist. Nichols led the charge with eight assists, while Hickel and Whiting each posted six themselves.

Defensively, Hickel backstopped the Nooks with a game- and career-high 15 digs.

As a team, Alaska picked up 41 kills to Mount Olive's 25, while also outdoing their opponent in digs (36), assists (34) and service aces (11). Alaska's best offensive set came in the third, when the team posted  16 kills off of 28 total attacks with only four errors for a hitting percentage of .429. Alaska also recorded a sideout percentage of 68 percent in the second set, going 11-of-16.

Mount Olive was led offensively by Britni Johnson, who recorded a team-high nine kills. UMO's Kamber Skeen led all players with 13 assists, while Kaitlin Grote and Casey Flecher each posted four digs to lead the Trojans.

"We had double-digit aces in both matches, which we're really happy about. We're hitting our targets and getting teams out of their systems, which is exactly what we want," Brian concluded. "The heat and the humidity kind of wore on us a little bit and we broke down systemically once again, as far as passing and defense go and that's what we want to see change early in the season. We've still got some growing to do but overall, I'm pretty proud of this team."

The Alaska Nanooks return to the Tidewater Volleyball Arena tomorrow (Sept. 3) to participate in the final day of the Viking Virginia Beach Invitational, as they take on Converse College at 5am AKT before facing Slippery Rock University at 11am AKT.

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