FAIRBANKS - The
Alaska Nanooks volleyball team swept the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks on Thursday, Oct. 7 at the Patty Center. This win moves them to 12-7, 5-2 GNAC and improves the 'Nooks to 6-1 on their home-court.
Alaska did not allow NNU past 17 points on the night as they made quick work of the Nighthawks, 25-16, 25-17 and 25-17, capping off their straight-set sweep. They also added a .354 team hit percentage on only seven errors. In the opening-set, the Nanooks posted 14 kills on 38 attempts for a .316 swing percentage and two errors. NNU was held to a .143 swing percentage. In set two, the Nanooks swung .133, however, their dip was met with a .081 posted by Nazarene, allowing the Nanooks to take the set despite being outhit 8-11 in kills. The third and final set was full offense. The Nanooks swung an unbelievable .643 with 19 kills and one error while NNU posted 14 kills and a swing percentage of .385. Alaska escaped with the win, 25-17, sweeping the Nighthawks.
In set one, NNU broke out with a quick 3-5 lead, however, the Nanooks responded with seven-straight points, taking a commanding lead, 10-5. Their lead continued to grow as
Emily Moorhead,
Rilee White,
Karli Nielson,
AveRee Reynolds and
Sophie Schilling checked-in with kills in a Nanooks 9-1 run, extending their lead to 22-11. NNU made a small run with three-consecutive points, however, Nielson ended the set with two of the final points on kills.
White got the second-set started with a service-ace, giving the Nanooks a 1-0 lead off-the-bat. They soon made it 3-5 off of a Schilling kill and with Schilling on the serve, extended their lead to 8-5. NNU made a run, pulling within one at 10-9, but the 'Nooks strung together a 12-5 run, making it 21-13. Their run was met with a 0-4 run from the Nighthawks. Despite the run, Alaska ended the set with their own 4-0 run as
AveRee Reynolds sparked the finish with a kill. The Nanooks took the set on three-consecutive errors from NNU attackers.
The brooms were broken out for the eighth time this season and third time at home as the Nanooks closed out NNU with one of the most dominant sets in recent memory. Alaska, seemingly, could not miss. They posted 19 kills on one error and hit an astounding .643 and put the Nighthawks to rest, 25-17. Reynolds started the fun in the third set as she took a pass from
Dani Dodge and made it 1-0 'Nooks.
Karli Nielson and
Sophie Schilling followed behind as Nielson made it 2-1 before Schilling went on a tear with four-straight kills on Nanook points. Behind her, they made it 6-2. After Nazarene made it 11-10, the Nanooks used an 8-2 run to quickly make it 19-12. NNU pushed, but Alaska did not budge as they ended with five of the final six points as
AveRee Reynolds ended it on a
Taylor Overn assist.
Reynolds led the way for the Nanooks with 10 kills, three blocks and two digs.
Sophie Schilling posted nine kills alongside a .500 hit percentage, four blocks, one dig and one service-ace. Nielson ended the night with nine kills, a .450 hit percentage, three aces, two blocks and two digs.
Cate Whiting ended the night with a double-double of 29 assists and 11 digs while
Dani Dodge led the team with 12 digs. She also added three assists and three aces.
The Nanooks are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 9 as #25-ranked Central Washington come to the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center for a crucial mid-season matchup.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter, @AlaskaNanooksVB on Instagram, or like the Alaska Nanooks VB team page on Facebook.
