FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team dropped their fourth-straight game on Thursday, Oct. 28. They battled #19-ranked Western Washington to a fifth-set for the second time this season, however, fell in the end. This loss drops the Nanooks to 13-11, 6-6 GNAC.
The Nanooks jumped out ahead early, taking the opening-set, 25-23 behind 17 kills and only four errors. They hit .295, just outhitting WWU by one kill and outpacing the Vikings .268 hit percentage. Western tied it up in the second set, swinging .382 compared to the Nanooks .244. Both tallied 17 kills, but the 'Nooks racked up three more errors, resulting in a 25-27 set-two loss. WWU grabbed the momentum and took set three behind a .306 hit percentage. The Nanooks only managed a .068 swing rate. They returned with the momentum in the fourth, though, pushing ahead behind 15 kills, winning the fourth, 25-21. Western saved their best for last as the Vikings took the fifth and final set behind 11 kills and only one error.
In the opening-set, the Nanooks saw an early deficit, but quickly erased it with a 7-1 run, making it 7-4. Western tied it at 8-8 before the Nanooks put together another small run. After making it 15-12, the Vikings answered again, this time taking the lead at 16-17. Alaska found the last answer in the first, tying it up at 20-20 and pushing the lead out to 22-20. They took the first behind seven kills from
Rilee White, who ended the set with a kill, giving Alaska the 25-23 win. The second and third went the way of the Viking as they jumped out to a quick 4-8 lead on the Nanooks. Despite playing behind the entire set, the 'Nooks battled back, tying it at 22-22 and 24-24. Alaska worked themselves into position for the set win with a 25-24 lead, but the Vikings rallied off three-straight escaping with the win.
Western took the third with ease. They jumped ahead by eight by the midway point of the third, having Alaska stare down an 8-16 deficit. Unlike the other sets, no run ever came as the Vikings took the set 16-25.
The fourth-set saw Alaska answer. A 10-3 run after a 6-6 tie opened things up for the Nanooks as they extended their lead to 14-7 behind the run. Alaska held the lead the rest of the way, however, this was not met without any runs from WWU. The Vikings pulled within three, on three separate occasions, late, but the Nanooks had the answer. They took the fourth, forcing a fifth-set for the second time this season against WWU.
The fifth set began with two WWU points before Alaska tied it back up. After back-and-forth ties to the 5-5 mark, the Vikings jumped out ahead, 5-8 on a quick run. They maintained the lead until the Nanooks pushed across their own three-point run, swinging the game back into a tie at 11-11. Unfortunately, that was the end of the road for Alaska as WWU grabbed the next four points for the win, 11-15.
The Nanooks were led by
Rilee White and
Lahra Weber who ended with 16 and 15 kills, respectively. White added a double-double to her night, collecting 13 digs and two blocks. Weber nearly joined the double-double fun with nine digs, one block and one ace.
AveRee Reynolds and
Emily Moorhead ended the night with 10 kills, each. Moorhead added four blocks while Reynolds tallied a pair.
Cate Whiting had herself another solid night, posting 51 assists, 19 digs and seven kills.
Dani Dodge joined her with 19 digs on the night.
Miya Ohms collected 18 digs.
The Nanooks are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 30 at home against Simon Fraser at 12:00 p.m. AKT.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter, @AlaskaNanooksVB on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.
