FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team showed their grit in their Thursday, Sept. 26 win over Montana State, Billings. In a battle of undefeated GNAC teams, the Nanooks prevailed in five sets, coming back from a 2-1 deficit. After winning set one in convincing fashion, 25-12, MSUB came roaring back to grab sets two and three, 25-18 and 25-22. The 'Nooks regrouped and found their set one rhythm again, winning sets four and five, 25-16 and 15-6. 
 
The Nanooks came off of their victory against Anchorage on Sept. 24 looking to become the first GNAC volleyball team to reach 3-0 on the season. Billings was looking to reach that feat as well. 
 
If you watched set one, you would have thought this match was over from the get-go. Unfortunately sets two and three saw the Yellowjackets take all of the momentum to their side, even with Alaska outhitting MSUB in those two sets 27-25. Errors played a big part in that momentum shift. The Nanooks suffered from 12 errors while the Jackets had just five. 
 
Alaska responded though. With the help of a loud Patty Center, the 'Nooks rallied and the hitters got hot and the blockers got their hands on everything.
 
Kim Wong had her best game of the 2019 season with 17 kills, 22.5 points and seven total blocks, five block assists and two solo blocks. Wong also swung a season high .567 hit percentage. AveRee Reynolds followed up her solid Tuesday with another great outing; she ended the day with 12 kills, a .375 hit percentage and 12.5 points. 
 
Head coach Brian Scott praised the crowd and atmosphere for being what it was today during the win, "It was such a fun atmosphere to have local elementary school students in the crowd today. First things first, a huge thanks to the North Star Burough School District and the Athletic Department for making the event happen … second, it was a rollercoaster match with lots of good and some definite struggles. MSUB did a great job executing a very specific game plan. With the exception of our missed serves I was very proud of how our team responded to some adversity. We all become better by persevering in these kinds of matches."
 
A .375 team hit percentage in set four and zero errors in the fifth set are exactly what the 'Nooks were looking for. Five service aces in set-five also helped be the difference maker. Thanks to a strong start, the 'Nooks jumped out to a 10-2 lead and would keep it the rest of the way. Cate Whiting put the game away with a service ace that caught to tape of the net and crawled over leading to a mishit from MSUB and the Nanooks grabbing the win. 
 
Whiting had another game filling up the stat sheet with 45 assists and 12 digs. The 45 assists were a season high for Whiting, who combined for a total of 79 assists in this week's two matches. 
 
The Nanooks are off for a full week and will be back in action next Thursday, Oct. 3 against Northwest Nazarene. Northwest Nazarene finds themselves at 4-5, however before they make the trip to Fairbanks, they will be playing Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific. 
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.