ANCHORAGE – The Alaska Nanook volleyball team swept Texas A&M International on Saturday, Sept. 4 in Anchorage to wrap-up their trip to the Seawolf Invitational. With the win, the Nanooks improved to 4-4 on the season and will finish their preseason schedule next week with the Nanook Classic on Sept. 9-11.
It took Alaska only three sets to knock-off the Dust Devils; 25-19, 25-14 and 25-21. In the first set the Nanooks were outhit 11-13 in the kills category but TAMIU tallied 13 errors to Alaska's four. Alaska also managed to win 52% of sideouts. In the second set, the Nanooks ran away early, posting 17 kills and an 86% sideout rate. In the third and final set, the Nanooks posted another solid kill number, collecting 16 to the Dust Devil's 10 and winning 61% of the sideouts.
In set number one,
AveRee Reynolds led the way with five kills for Alaska.
Cate Whiting added 10 assists and helped facilitate around the court, getting three 'Nooks two or more kills in the opening-set. Alaska fell behind out of the gates, however, the 1-4 deficit did not factor into their opening-set success. They battled back to tie the set at 4-4 and eventually went on a run to take a 10-6 lead. They extended their lead to 19-11 behind kills from
Emily Moorhead and
Sophie Schilling. TAMIU made a small push late, however, the Nanooks pushed their lead to 24-18 and won the set, 25-19. Set two saw peak-Nanooks as they played as clean of a set as possible.
Set two was all Alaska. Off the bat the Nanooks had a 7-2 lead. Off of
Sophie Schilling, Moorhead and Reynolds kills, Alaska was out ahead early and often. They extended their lead to 13-6 on a block from Moorhead and Reynolds. After making it 20-11 on another Schilling kill, the Nanooks put away the set, 25-14 with a Moorhead kill.
Lahra Weber had the biggest set for the Nanooks, collecting five kills. Schilling and Reynolds added three in the set while Moorhead, White and Whiting all added two. The 'Nooks were looking for their third sweep of the season.
The third set was a close one throughout it all. After Alaska made another quick jump to go up 7-1, Texas A&M Int'l stormed back to make it 11-10. After a quick timeout from the Nanooks, they made a run of their own, extending their lead to 16-11. One more push from TAMIU came at 19-17, but the 'Nooks were able to push them away and sweep the Dust Devils with a 25-21 final set win.
AveRee Reynolds led the way for Alaska, ending tied with a game-high 13 kills. She added a .312 hit percentage to her name alongside six digs and six blocks.
Cate Whiting put up 35 assists in the three-set victory, tallying eight digs and four blocks.
Dani Dodge led the way in digs, collecting 18.
After all of the action this weekend in Anchorage,
Cate Whiting was named to the Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team. In the four games played by Alaska, Whiting tallied 126 assists, 51 digs and 13 kills.
The Nanooks are back in action next week at home in the 2021 Nanook Classic at the Patty Center.
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.
