BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team fell to the #10-ranked Western Washington Vikings on Thursday, Oct. 20. WWU took the win 26-24, 25-16, 25-15 to drop the Nanooks to 15-9, 5-7 GNAC.

Set one proved to be the closest of the night as the 'Nooks fought til the final point, but fell 26-24. Alaska outhit the Vikings .256 to .250 and put up one more kill, but the late efforts by the 'Nooks were not enough to take the opening set. The Vikings took the second set 25-16 behind a crazy .519 hit percentage and 16 kills before finishing the sweep off with a 25-15 set three win over the Nanooks. As a team, the Nanooks picked up 37 kills with a .172 hit percentage.

In the first, the Nanooks fell behind early. WWU used an attack error from Alaska to take a 7-3 lead. A run by Western pushed the lead to seven at 14-7. After the lead hit seven, Alaska made their run. The Nanooks pulled within three at 14-11 behind an Elizabeth Jackson kill, Ainsley Smith service ace and back-to-back blocks from Elena Guc, Rilee White and Jackson, who assisted on both. The Nanooks then pushed the opening set to a tie at 20-20 on a reversed call at the net. After trading points, the Nanooks took the lead at 23-22, flipping the momentum. Unfortunately, the flip was quick, as the Vikings took the lead back and took the set win 26-24.  

After one, the Nanooks were led by Ella Bines, Elizabeth Jackson and Karli Nielson, who all posted four kills. 

WWU jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead in the second set. Their lead jumped to 10 at the 14-4 mark and stayed until the Nanooks made it 17-10. They pulled within seven one more time at 21-14, but that was the closest they'd make it as the Vikings took the middle stanza 25-16 to take a 2-0 lead. The third was a similar story. WWU moved ahead 9-3 to start the set before the Nanooks crawled back to within three at 9-6. Western answered back with a 7-2 run, making it a 17-8 deficit for Alaska. The Nanooks made it 20-13 with a Rilee White kill, but seven was the closest they came in the third and final set. 

Western took the third set 25-15 and finished off the Nanooks with a sweep. 

Ella Bines and Elizabeth Jackson posted 10 kills each. Bines had a .562 swing percentage while Jackson hit .643 and added four blocks with one solo. Taylor Overn led the Nanooks with 17 assists with four digs. Ainsley Smith added 16 assists and two digs and aces. Finally, Jessa Long led the team with nine digs. 

The Nanooks head across the border to Burnaby, B.C. to face the Simon Fraser Red Leafs on Saturday, Oct. 22.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page.