Box Score NAMPA, Idaho – The Alaska volleyball team fell victim to the No. 12 team in the country on Saturday afternoon, as the Nanooks fell 3-0 to the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the Johnson Sports Center. Alaska went 12-25, 10-25 and 18-25 against the Crusaders, dropping their overall record to 8-7 (1-5 GNAC) while NNU continues their undefeated season with a 14-0 mark (6-0 GNAC).

"I'm disappointed how we came out to start the first two sets. NNU is ranked high in the nation and deservedly so," head coach Brian Scott said on Saturday. "They are a very good team and we cannot come out flat and with that level of effort and expect that we're going to be able to compete with them."

As a team, Alaska posted a team hitting percentage of .036, their lowest of the season. The Nanooks recorded 27 kills and 23 errors on the day, with their best offensive set coming in the third when they registered 12 kills. The Nooks also combined for 46 digs, 35 assists and three service aces.

Individually, Alaska was led by redshirt-senior outside hitter Maddie Davis, who posted a team-high seven kills. Davis' offensive efforts were followed by redshirt-freshman Markie Miller, who collected six kills on the day.

Freshman setter Cate Whiting led the Nanooks in assists with 13 while senior setter Rachel Nichols posted nine on the day. A pair of Nooks registered double-digit digs against the Crusaders, led by sophomore libero Jenna Hickel (14) and freshman outside hitter Lahra Weber (10).

"They came out prepared against us. They knew who to serve to, they kept us far out of system and they kept us away from running our offense, which is something we've been very capable of running thus far," Scott continued.

NNU's Madi Farrell was the only player in Saturday's game to tally double-digit kills with 10. The Crusaders' setter Hailey Cook posted a game-high 24 assists, while libero Shayli Siegfried recorded a game-high 16 digs. Northwest Nazarene's Mari Thomas also posted a game-high five service aces against Alaska.

As a team, the Crusaders tallied 37 kills and only seven errors for a hitting percentage of .297. NNU proved why they are one of top blocking teams in the country, posting 9.5 blocks against the Nanooks.

"I think the great thing we can take from this match is that we can learn from it," Scott concluded. "Our team does a good job of picking up on things quickly and we'll have an opportunity this next week to test ourselves again when Western Washington comes to town. We will see how resilient we are and start implementing the growth that's been happening."

The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team returns home to host two GNAC contests at the Alaska Airlines Court next week. The Nooks will face Western Washington University on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 7pm AKT before facing the Simon Fraser Clan on Saturday, Oct. 7 at 1pm AKT. Saturday's game will be the Nanooks' annual Dig Pink game where Alaska encourages fans to wear pink for breast cancer awareness.

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