HONOLULU, Hawaii – The Alaska Nanook volleyball team picked up another win over Hawaii Pacific on Saturday, August 28, going four sets with the Sharks and moving to 2-1 on the 2021 season. They won 25-16, 25-20, 23-25 and 25-13. 
 
The Nanooks took set one with ease, posting 14 kills and a .257 hit percentage compared to the Sharks seven kills and .111 hit percentage. In set two, the Nanooks posted 15 kills and seven errors for a hit percentage of .200 while the Sharks posted 10 kills and five errors. The third set went the way of HPU as they cut the Nanooks errors in half, only posting four while Alaska had eight unforced errors. The fourth set was a bounce back for Alaska as they played near perfect volleyball with 14 kills, three errors and a .306 hit percentage while HPU ended the night on a five kill set and seven errors. 
 
Alaska outhit HPU 55-33 in kills, tallied an advantage of 11-3 in blocks and had 49 assists to the 31 from the Sharks. 
 
In set number one, the Nanooks looked to strong out of the gates as they jumped to a quick 5-2 lead behind a service ace from Cate Whiting and kills from AveRee Reynolds and Rilee White. Another run for Alaska led to a 10-4 lead on another White kill. The Sharks made a small run and tied the set up at 15-15 but after that, the Nanooks scored 10 of the last 11 points including two runs of six and four points for a 25-16 set one win. The runs would continue into set two. 
 
After dropping the first point of the second set, Alaska ran off to another quick start, jumping ahead 12-3. Six of those points came with Miya Ohms serving. The Sharks made a small run but were quickly shut down as the 'Nooks pushed their lead to 17-6. Hawaii Pacific crawled back in but after a small run of making it 24-20, the Nanooks took a 2-0 lead on an attack error from HPU. 
 
An early run, once again, couldn't hold off the Sharks in set three as HPU stole the third 23-25. After Alaska started the set up 7-1, Hawaii Pacific managed to pull off run after run, eventually taking back the lead at 19-20. Some back-and-forth play ensued but HPU pulled out the 23-25 set victory. Despite dropping their first set against HPU in two meetings, Alaska would stop it at that. 
 
Another quick start for Alaska was what they needed. An early 7-2 lead on a spread of kills from Elizabeth Jackson, Karli Nielson, AveRee Reynolds, Lahra Weber and Cate Whiting got everyone on the Nanook sideline on their feet. Despite small runs from HPU, there was no looking back as the 'Nooks eventually grabbed a 20-10 lead on another Weber kill. A four-point run ended things in the Shark Tank as Alaska pulled out the fourth set win, 25-13. 

AveRee Reynolds led the way for the Nanooks with 12 kills and a hit percentage of .257 while adding two digs and a block. Lahra Weber was just behind with 11 kills and a .138 hit percentage. She had four service-aces and nine digs. Sophie Schilling and Rilee White combined for 17 kills and Schilling added five blocks. Cate Whiting added to her impressive 2021 start with 40 assists and 20 digs. Her 20 digs were matched by Dani Dodge. 
 
The Nanooks end their trip to Hawaii tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. AKT when they face-off with Chaminade one more time at McCabe Gymnasium. 
 
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @AlaskaNanooksVB on Instagram, @NanooksVB on Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.