MONMOUTH, Ore. - The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team opened up GNAC-play with a 3-0 sweep of Western Oregon on Thursday, Sept. 16. With the win, the Nanooks moved to 8-5, 1-0 GNAC.
Led by 13 kills from
Karli Nielson, the Nanooks pushed through Western Oregon, not budging despite some pushback from the Wolves. In set one, the Nanooks outhit WOU, .355 to .095, tallying 14 kills with only three errors and won, 25-17. In the second set, the Wolves found a spark, but Alaska quickly shut it down, pulling away late, 26-24, despite being outhit .104 to .114. In the final set, the Nanooks put up another incredible offensive set, picking up 16 kills with three errors for a .351 hit percentage. Alaska took the third and final set, 25-17.
In set number one, Western Oregon flew out to a quick 1-4 lead. That did not stall the Nanooks as they fought back to tie the set at 8-8 with four-straight points from kills by
Sophie Schilling,
Cate Whiting and Nielson. Another small deficit ensued, but Alaska rallied, once agani, this time when down 12-15, pushing ahead 16-15 on an
AveRee Reynolds kill. After the Wolves tied it at 16-16, the Nanooks took the lead and scored nine of the next 10 points, winning the set 25-17.
In set two, the Nanooks fell behind early as the Wolves rallied from an early Nanook lead of 3-0 to make it 3-8. Quickly, the Nanooks battled back. They pulled within three at 9-12 before WOU made it a four-point game at 10-14. Alaska flipped the page and took back the set. After a service-error, the Nanooks had the momentum; they strung together eight-straight points, taking an 18-14 lead. A small rally from WOU led to a 24-24 tie before
Emily Moorhead put it away, 26-24, with a kill. Set three was it, as the Nanooks would complete the sweep.
Back-and-forth volleyball started the third set with WOU grabbing a 5-8 lead, but a kill from Nielson tied it up at 10-10. Two service-aces by
Rilee White kick-started the Nanooks run as they rallied ahead 16-11 and eventually another 25-17 set win. Nielson led the way with 13 kills and a .346 hit percentage.
Sophie Schilling followed behind with eight kills and a .389 hit percentage.
Cate Whiting posted a game-high 31 assists and added seven digs and five kills.
Dani Dodge led the way on the defensive end with 23 digs while
Lahra Weber added 12 of her own.
Emily Moorhead led the way with two solo-blocks and six block-assists.
AveRee Reynolds tallied seven block-assists.
The Nanooks stay on the road and face Saint Martin's University on Saturday, Sept. 18 at the Marcus Pavilion with a 4:15 p.m. AKT scheduled start time.
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.
