FAIRBANKS, Alaska – In front of a season-best home crowd of 525 fans, the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team captured a four-set thriller over Seattle Pacific on Saturday night, taking down the Falcons 3-1 in the Nanooks' final Great Northwest Athletic Conference home match of the season. Alaska went 25-22, 23-25, 25-22 and 25-23 over Seattle Pacific, improving their overall record to 13-12 and 11-7 in conference play, while the Falcons drop to 11-14 overall and 9-9 in league contests.
The win marks a new single-season best under fourth-year head coach
Brian Scott and marks the most wins since the 2004 season. Furthermore, Saturday's win assures the 2018 season to be Alaska's first .500-or-above conference record since joining the GNAC.
Three Alaska players registered double-digit kills against Seattle Pacific, led by junior middle blocker
Kim Wong with 19. Wong only tallied four errors off 29 total attempts for a .517 hitting percentage. The Spokane, Washington native also registered two solo blocks and one block assist for a match-high 21.5 points.
Following Wong's lead, sophomore outside hitter
Lahra Weber collected 15 kills and 13 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. Weber also posted one assist and one block assist for 15.5 points.
Redshirt-sophomore outside hitter
Markie Miller was the only other Alaska player to collect double-digit digs, tallying 11 against the Falcons.
Sophomore setter
Cate Whiting boasted a career night on Saturday, collecting a match-best 51 assists, only five shy of her season-best of 56. Whiting also chipped in six kills and 13 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Defensively, Alaska had four players register double-digit digs, including Weber and Whiting, but it was freshman libero
Makena Overbey who led all player on the court with 20 digs. Redshirt-sophomore outside hitter
Tatum Upchurch collected 11 digs against SPU.
The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team hits the road for their final two GNAC matches of the season next week, taking on the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks on Thursday, Nov. 8 in Nampa, Idaho before traveling to Ellensburg, Washington to face the Central Washington Wildcats on Saturday, Nov. 10. Thursday's game is scheduled for 5pm AKT, while Saturday is slated for 6pm AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.
