Box Score LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The D2 West Volleyball Showcase proved to be a difficult weekend for the Nanooks of Fairbanks. Saturday, Sept. 14 ended the three day, four-game trip for the 'Nooks as they faced and fell to Azusa Pacific in four sets. After taking the first set from APU, Alaska dropped the next three, losing, 25-13, 24-26, 18-25, 14-25. 
 
Set one saw the Nanooks blow the Cougars out of the water. With eight straight points in the middle of set one, the 'Nooks took a commanding 16-7 lead and never looked back. They would go on to win the first set 25-13. Led by Lahra Weber and AveRee Reynolds, the offense seemed to have found their stride. Unfortunately for Alaska, the next three sets had other plans. 
 
In what started out as a run-away game for Azusa Pacific, slowly became anyone's game when Zoey Keene tied the game at 18 with a kill and followed that with a service ace to give the Nanooks their first lead of the second set. The eventual downfall was that APU had an answer for everything. Each Nanook run was answered by a Cougar run, each kill was met with a following block. The 'Nooks could not retain their first set findings and claim another set win. 
 
In set three, Alaska grabbed an early lead but the story of the weekend, errors, came back to play a big role in Azusa Pacific securing the victory in sets three and four. A combined 15 errors in the final two sets for UAF compared to seven finals two set errors by APU. 
 
Over the four weekend games combined, the 'Nooks had players throw up some incredible numbers. Cate Whiting over the four games combined for 123 assists; Makena Overbey picked up a combined 54 digs and AveRee Reynolds killed 34 balls on the attack. Weber picked up 37 of her own kills and Kim Wong also hit the 30 mark in kills. 
 
The Nanooks end the weekend 1-3 but saw a lot of growth and national exposure. Three of the four games played in Los Angeles were against teams that qualified for last season's 2019 NCAA Tournament, West Region; Cal State, LA, Cal State, East Bay, and Azusa Pacific. Alaska opens up their GNAC schedule next Thursday, Sept. 19 when they travel to Saint Martin's University. They will stay in Washington state to take on Seattle Pacific University on Sept. 21 before returning home and opening their home schedule against in-state rival, Alaska Anchorage on Sept. 24.
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.