FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team picked-up a big five-set victory over Northwest Nazarene on Friday, Mar. 19, 2021. After falling in the first set, 22-25, the Nanooks picked up the next two and the exciting fifth set to move to 2-2 on the season.
Lahra Weber was the bright spot for Alaska in set number one as she picked up five kills and posted a .267 hit percentage on 15 attempts and a service ace. Despite her six points, the Nanooks fell 22-25. Alaska and NNU both put up 14 kills but five Nanook errors to only one by the Nighthawks played the difference. The second set saw a very spread offense for the Nanooks as six players checked in with a kill, including
AveRee Reynolds, posting five of her team-high 16 in the second set. After battling to a set-point and 24-19 lead, the 'Nooks were pushed by the Nighthawks, as NNU came back to tie it at 25-25. Despite the comeback attempt, two errors by NNU ended the set and gave the 'Nooks the win, tying things at 1-1.
The Nanooks jumped out to a quick lead, 8-5, in the third set but were met with resistance once again by NNU, who took back a 10-12 lead. The Nanooks answered right back, however, making it 15-12 behind an
Emily Moorhead kill and
Rilee White kill. After the 'Nooks pushed across 20 points, they never looked back, finishing off the Nighthawks 25-22.
In the fourth set, the 'Nooks fell 20-25. Despite the set-loss, Moorhead and freshman
Karli Nielson had big sets, posting five and six kills, respectively. Nielson wasn't done there. In the fifth set, the Nanooks posted 16 total kills to NNU's 13. Nielson added two more kills,
Zoey Keene had three and
Rilee White led the fifth-set totals with five. After falling behind 10-13, the Nanooks battled back, taking the lead 14-13. The two teams went back and forth until the 20-20 mark when Weber put up the 'Nooks by one and an attack error on NNU gave the Nanooks the win.
They knocked-off NNU at home for the first time since 2015 after dropping the previous four home-matchups.
Reynolds ended the night with 16 kills and an attack percentage of .262. Moorhead ended the night with 13, White checked-in with a dozen and Nielson and Weber both ended with nine.
Cate Whiting had an amazing night of distribution, collecting 50 assists.
Dani Dodge ended the night with 31 digs, a game-high.
These two teams are back at it again, the morning of Saturday, Mar. 20 at 11:00 a.m. AKT. All video can be found on the official Alaska Nanooks YouTube page and live stats can be found on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team schedule.
For more information on the Alaska Nanook volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.
