FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team will host the Seattle Pacific Falcons on Thursday, Sept. 23 and Montana State Billings Yellow Jackets on Saturday, Sept. 25 to open their home-schedule of GNAC play.
Last Time Out
The Nanooks are coming off of a 2-0 road trip to Western Oregon and Saint Martin's. They swept both the Wolves and Saints, making it three-straight matches with a sweep and two in GNAC play. In game one, the Nanooks were led by
Karli Nielson with 13 kills.
Cate Whiting put up 31 assists while
Dani Dodge collected 23 digs. Alaska defeated WOU, 25-17, 26-24, 25-17. After traveling from Oregon to Washington, the 'Nooks faced the Saints of SMU and continued their hot-streak of hitting. They swept the Saints behind a .196 team hit percentage and 38 kills.
Lahra Weber and
Karli Nielson led the way with nine each.
Cate Whiting added 26 more assists.
AVCA
For the first time in program history, the Nanooks name appeared in the AVCA National Poll. Despite not cracking the top-25, Alaska received two votes, giving the nation a glimpse of what is happening in Fairbanks. The last time the Nanooks showed up in an NCAA Poll was 2003 when they cracked the top-10 in the West Region Poll. They ranked in three of the five polls for the 2003 season.
It's the Emily Moorhead Show
Emily Moorhead earned her first GNAC Weekly honor after this past weekend. She totaled 11 blocks and eight kills. Alongside her weekly award, Moorhead finds herself fourth in the NCAA DII Volleyball ranks with 56.0 blocks. She also is just outside of the top-20 in blocks/set with 1.24.
Prestige Worldwide
Sophie Schilling, the MB from Berlin, Germany, has made a name for herself at the net. The 6'1" junior finds herself at the top of the total-blocks list in the NCAA DII Volleyball ranks with 60.0 total blocks. She has tallied 55 block-assists and five solo-blocks.
Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge
Dani Dodge is one of the top back-row players when it comes to picking up digs. The libero from Topeka, Kansas has tallied 234 through 52 sets played, putting her just outside of the top-10 in the NCAA DII. Joining her in the top-50 is
Cate Whiting with 186. The duo is one of two schools with multiple in the top-50.
Scouting the Opponent
Seattle Pacific
SPU also received votes in the AVCA Top-25 poll. They are coming off of a 2-0 weekend to open their GNAC schedule. On Thursday, Sept. 16, SPU knocked-off Northwest Nazarene in Seattle in four-sets, 3-1. On Saturday, Sept. 18, the Falcons defeated the CWU Wildcats, also in four-sets. Maddie Batiste is the top-Falcon on the attack. Through nine matches and 30 sets-played, Batiste has collected 83 kills with an average of 2.77 kills/set. Emily Tulino and Lindsey Lambert are the top-two for the Falcons in the distribution department. Tulino leads the way with 213 assists while Lambert follows closely with 132 of her own.
At the net, Hannah Hair is the most trouble. She has 51 total blocks on the season with an average of 1.65 blocks/set through only 31 sets played.
Montana State Billings
Montana State Billings is coming off of a split, 1-1 weekend, opening up their GNAC play. They battled Central Washington on Thursday, Sept. 16, but were defeated by the Wildcats in four-sets. They rebounded and knocked-off the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks on Saturday, Sept. 18 with a straight-set sweep. Bayli Monck is the lead-attacker for the Yellow Jackets as she leads the way with 123 kills through 36 sets. She holds an average of 3.42 kills/set and a .260 hit percentage through 10 games. Hannah Hashbarger leads the way with 254 assists on the year. The next closest MSUB player is Briel Norman with 69 assists on the season.
Joelle Mahowald and Hannah Hayden are at the top of the net play for Billings as Mahowald lead the way with 43 total-blocks while Hayden follows close behind with 29.
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.
