MONMOUTH, Ore – The Alaska Nanooks grabbed their sixth victory of the GNAC season, improving their overall to 9-6, 6-1 GNAC. It took four sets, but the Nanooks were able to grab the victory, 25-9, 25-20, 28-30 and 25-20 over Western Oregon as they begin two-game trip in the Willamette Valley.
Lahra Weber led the way in set one for the Nanooks, grabbing six of her 15 kills early on. The Nanooks had no trouble in the first set. After taking an 8-6 lead, the Nanooks scored seven straight points to turn it into a 15-6 lead. Alaska ended up taking the first set with ease, 25-9, not allowing Western Oregon a chance to catch up.
The second set saw the Wolves gain some momentum. Early in set number two, Alaska would tie the game and then go down a point; this back-and-forth play stayed for what felt like forever. After dropping consecutive points and finding the deficit 11-14, the Nanooks found their comfort zone. Kills by
Markie Miller and
AveRee Reynolds brought the 'Nooks back to a tie ballgame. At 15-all, the game would see the momentum shift topple towards Alaska.
Back-to-back
Kim Wong kills followed by back-to-back Weber kills gave Alaska a three point lead, the lead they'd been after from the beginning. An attack error by Western Oregon would give the Nanooks the set two victory, 25-20.
Set three saw a lot of the same back-and-forth action that set two displayed. After Alaska jumped out to an early 10-7 lead, the Wolves climbed back into the set and drew even at 14-14. Led by junior, outside hitter, Sianna DeCarli, WOU was never out of the match completely; her 14 kills are what willed the Wolves to play their best volleyball. Set three went to the Wolves, 30-28, spoiling the Nanooks hopes of a sweep in Monmouth.
The Nanooks took set four into their own hands and finished WOU off. They jumped out to a 10-3 lead before the Wolves fought back. Eventually the set saw Alaska kick their game into overdrive and run away with it. The 'Nooks extended their lead to 17-11 at one point in the fourth before taking the final set and victory, 25-20.
Junior,
Cate Whiting had another impressive game, assisting on 40 kills and adding seven digs.
AveRee Reynolds put up another great effort, extending her double-digit kill streak to six games, finishing with 13 and a .300 hit percentage.
On the defensive side,
Makena Overbey led the way with 18 digs.
Mica Chen checked in with 10 digs of her own and
Kim Wong led the way in the block party with five total blocks.
Head coach
Brian Scott had this to say following the Nanooks road victory, "WOU did a great job putting pressure on us with the serve. It kept us from running what we wanted in our offense for portions of the match. We need to be better at rebounding from some mistakes and get back to playing good volleyball. We will make some changes and get ready for our next match."
The next match for the Nanooks will be Saturday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m. AKT when they take on the Concordia Cavaliers in Portland, Ore. The Cavaliers fell to Anchorage Thursday night, 0-3 and drop to 6-8, 4-3 GNAC on the year.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.
