FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Alaska Nanook volleyball heads to Nampa, Idaho to face-off with the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks, two weeks after the 'Nooks swept NNU at home. The Nanooks are coming off of a weekend-split in Anchorage on Mar. 26-27.
Live Video
The Alaska Nanook volleyball games will be live streamed by the NNU athletic department and available using the link found in the above table. Live stats can also be found in the table.
Last Time Out
The Alaska volleyball team is coming off of a historic weekend in Anchorage. Despite splitting the two games with the Seawolves, the one win was written into the volleyball history books as it was the Nanooks' first victory in Anchorage since the 2010 season, erasing a 10.5 year losing streak. In game one, UAA swept the 'Nooks but in game two, the Nanooks jumped out to a 2-1 set-lead before winning a tight fifth-set for a 3-2 win over UAA.
Moving up the List
Cate Whiting continues to move up the list for the Nanooks in the all-time assists record book. She now has a career-total of 2,591 assists, trailing fourth place by 160 assists.
Lahra Weber is also moving up the list for all-time kills in the blue and gold. She has tallied 66 kills this shortened season, resulting in her having 989 in her career. She officially holds the fifth-place spot in the Nanooks volleyball record book and trails fourth-place by only 34 kills.
NNU Nighthawks
The NNU volleyball team is coming off of a two-game sweep of Colorado Christian, winning their first road games of the year. The Nighthawks picked-up a five-set win and a four-set win, completing their season-meetings with the CCU Cougars. The Nanooks currently hold a two-game winning streak over the Nighthawks, having swept NNU in their previous matchup on Mar. 19-20. They won in a long five-set match and then followed that with a sweep. NNU finds themselves 5-7 on the year with a perfect 3-0 record on their home court.
Coaches Quotes
When asked about facing NNU again after sweeping them two weeks ago;
It will be a difficult task to maintain that advantage. NNU always plays so tough. Even though we swept them at our place, every set was tightly contested. They definitely have the advantage on their home court. We are going to need to be very disciplined to come away with a win this weekend.
Game plan around NNU;
We will definitely review both our matches and the matches at CCU. I would put more emphasis on what they did well against us and work hard on what corrections we need to address before meeting up again. If there is some valuable information, we can learn from CCU to help us prepare, we will find it.
When asked about the split performances by seniors and newcomers and how they find that balance;
I think in a rivalry match it makes sense that the senior class shined. They have been in that atmosphere before and performed well. We will continue to look at how we do each match and make adjustments with regards to personnel. It has been a blessing to be able to go deep into the bench and find success. I think it is a strength of ours right now, we have a team of very talented athletes, and on any given night, somebody will step up and perform when needed.
When asked about their defensive performances as of late;
This has been a focus of ours this year and I think we have made large improvements. If you watch our two five-set matches, I think our defense stepped up at key moments to make stops and give us good opportunities to convert the ball for a point. We will need that mindset to compete during a regular GNAC schedule.
When asked about the NNU attack;
We have to be good at our systems. Each player has a role to play defensively and we need to be good at making the correct defensive reads when you face great hitters like NNU has on their roster.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.
