NAMPA, Idaho – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team earned their fourth-straight victory on Thursday night, defeating the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks 3-2 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the Johnson Sports Center in Nampa. Alaska went 17-25, 21-25, 25-20, 25-15 and 15-11 against NNU to improve their overall record to 14-12 and 12-7 in conference play, while the Nighthawks fall to 6-20 on the season and 6-13 in league play.

Alaska's 14 wins this season marks a new single-season best under fourth-year head coach Brian Scott, while their 12 GNAC victories is only one conference win shy of their single-season best of 13 (2002, 13-5 GNAC) since joining the league prior to the 2001 season.

"After a very slow start tonight, we did a good job of making some defensive and serve-receive adjustments," Scott said on Thursday. "After the second set especially, we did a good job of limiting their offense and providing second-chance swings for ourselves. Another big team effort tonight, as we had many people making huge contributions on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball."

The Nanooks had three different players register double-digit kills on Thursday, led by redshirt-sophomore outside hitter Tatum Upchurch with 16. Upchurch tallied only three errors off of 41 total attempts for a team-best hitting percentage of .317. The Anchorage native also chipped in six block assists and five digs for a match-high 19.0 points.

Fellow redshirt-sophomore outside hitter Markie Miller was close behind with 15 kills, also adding four digs, two aces and two block assists for 18.0 points. Sophomore outside hitter Lahra Weber was the only other Alaska player to boast double-digit kills, producing 13 against the Nighthawks. Weber registered her ninth double-double of the season on Thursday with 12 kills, while also adding three block assists and one assist for 14.5 points.

Pacing Alaska's offense was sophomore setter Cate Whiting, who tallied 51 assists for the second-straight match. Whiting was the only other Alaska player to boast a double-double on Thursday, collecting 21 digs, while also picking up a team-best three aces, two block assists and one solo block.

Defensively, freshman libero Makena Overbey tied Whiting for a team-best 21 digs, while sophomore defensive specialist Sarina Mancari picked up 11 digs.

At the net, junior middle blocker Kim Wong led Alaska with two solo blocks and four block assists for 4.0 points, while sophomore middle blocker Emily Moorhead tallied eight block assists.

The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team will close-out the 2018 season in Ellensburg, Washington on Saturday, Nov. 10, as they take on the Central Washington Wildcats in a GNAC matchup at the Nicholson Pavilion. Alaska's season finale is set to take place at 6pm AKST.

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