BURNABY, B.C. - The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team fell to the Simon Fraser Red Leafs on Saturday, Oct. 22. With the loss the Nanooks fall to 15-10, 5-8 GNAC.

Simon Fraser capitalized on their sideout percentages all night, posting a 72% rate in the first, 62% in the second and 78% in the third while the Nanooks never reached higher than 58% on the night. In the first, SFU used 15 kills to the Nanooks 13 to win 25-18. In the second, the Nanooks out hit the Red Leafs 14-13 in kills but one more error than SFU proved the difference as SFU won the second 25-23. In the third, Simon Fraser pulled away to win the set and take the sweep 25-14.

In the first, the Nanooks were led by Rilee White, who posted four kills on seven attempts. Alaska opened up the game with a 6-1 lead, using kills from Karli Nielson to jump ahead quickly. Their lead stuck to a 10-6 lead before SFU ran back and took the lead back from the 'Nooks. The Red Leafs turned the game around and stormed ahead with an 18-13 lead. The Nanooks made a push back, pulling within 21-17 on a White kill, but the Red Leafs scored four of the next five points to take set one 25-18. In the second, the Nanooks held on to the lead for the first half before SFU stormed back to take the lead. The Nanooks held on to a two-point lead until SFU took an 8-6 lead. The 'Nooks responded with a four-point swing to take a 12-9 lead. They maintained the lead through the 14-13 mark before the Red Leafs reclaimed the lead at 15-14. The two sides traded leads until SFU took a 21-20 lead and never looked back. 

They managed to hold off a surging Nanooks squad and took the second 25-23.

The third set went the way of the Red Leafs. They jumped out to an early 7-2 lead before extending it to 10-3. The Nanooks made a small push, pulling within six at 13-7 on a Kristina Head service ace. SFU pushed their lead again, this time to 11 at 21-10. Alaska managed to string together four more points, but it was not enough as SFU won and swept the Nanooks 25-14.

Karli Nielson led the offense with 12 kills and a .207 hit percentage. She added three digs, two blocks and a service ace. Ella Bines and Rilee White both added six kills. Ainsley Smith posted a double-double with 17 assists and 10 digs. Taylor Overn added 12 assists and three digs and Jessa Long ended the day with 13 digs and four assists. 

The Nanooks enter rivalry week as they head to Anchorage next weekend to take on the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves. 

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