LACEY, Wash. – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team made quick work of the Saints of Saint Martin's on Thursday, Sept. 19. In their straight-set sweep, the 'Nooks saw a spread offense propel them to their first win of the GNAC season. 
 
The dangerous duo of Lahra Weber and Kim Wong struck fire against the Saints defense. Weber was the number one target for junior setter, Cate Whiting, who targeted her 35 total times. Despite a .171 hit percentage, Weber produced a team-high 11 kills and added 12 digs for the first of two double-doubles on the Nanooks stat sheet. 
 
Wong proved to be the more efficient of the two tonight, picking up 10 kills on 21 attempts and swinging an insane .429 hit percentage. Markie Miller added seven kills and a .250 hit percentage for Alaska. 
 
As for that second double-double tonight, Whiting filled up her end of the stats with 35 assists and 14 digs, resulting in yet another double-double for the junior. 
 
From the get-go, the Nanooks were in control. Set one saw Alaska jump out to a 14-12 lead and in the blink of an eye the lead jumped to 20-12. Both set one and two would end in the same final score of 25-14 in Alaska's favor before SMU put up a fight in the third and final set. 
 
Set three saw the Nanooks jump out to an early 8-2 lead, however, the Saints would answer, working it all the way back to a 20-18 score late in the set. A kill from Wong to make it 21-18 ignited the 'Nooks bench and team and from that point on they knew they had the game won. The final set score was 25-20, Alaska. 
 
Coach Brian Scott had nothing but positive words following this win, "We played a great match tonight. Almost exactly what we had scouted and planned to do. SMU played some great defense for a young team and I was pleased with how we matched their defensive performance. We did a nice job of distributing the offense to multiple hitter and getting everyone involved." 
 
The defense proved to be the Nanooks biggest improvement in the last week. As a team, Alaska out-blocked Saint Martin's 12-4 and won the dig-game, 61-55. Mica Chen and Makena Overbey closed the book on double-digit performances with Chen collecting 10 digs and Overbey adding 11 of her own. 
 
The 'Nooks will stay in Washington for a few more nights as they get ready to take on a tough Seattle Pacific squad, who fell Sept. 18 to Anchorage in straight sets in what was also their GNAC opener. The Alaska, Seattle Pacific match, which is scheduled for Sept. 21 is set to begin at 1 p.m. AKT and live video will be available on the SPU Athletics YouTube page. 
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.