FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks defeated the Saint Martin's Saints on Saturday, Sept. 10 in four sets. With the win, the Nanooks moved to 11-3, 1-1 GNAC and dropped the Saints to 9-2, 0-2 GNAC.

SMU took the first set 20-25, outhitting the Nanooks .414 to .103 but the Nanooks turned it around to take sets two, three and four to knock off the Saints. 

The Saints used a big offensive first set to beat the 'Nooks in the first after jumping out to an early 3-7 lead. The Nanooks battled back to pull within one at 8-9 with a Kristina Head ace before Rilee White made it 11-12 on a kill, once again pulling Alaska within one. After Saints strung a few points together, the 'Nooks tied it at 16-16 using a White service-ace. Head tied it again at 17-17 before SMU ran away with the opening set. They pushed ahead by four before eventually winning the opener 20-25. Karli Nielson led the way with six kills for the Nanooks, supplying Ainsley Smith a go-to option offensively. 

That offensive fire power carried over to the second for both Nielson and the Nanooks as she posted four more kills, leading the Nanooks to a commanding 25-15 set two win. Alaska jumped ahead 6-2 before stretching their lead to double-digits at 16-6, eventually making it an 11-point lead. The Saints pushed back a little before the Nanooks put it away for good on a Karli Nielson ace, one of her three on the night. The third set was back-and-forth until late. The two teams traded runs to open. The Nanooks jumped ahead early, making it an early four-point advantage on separate occasions before Saint Martin's tied it at 10-10. The Nanooks ran ahead by four again at the 17-13 mark, eventually stretching it to five at 19-14 on another Nielson ace. The Saints battled back, tying the set at 20-20. After two more ties and a 22-22 score, the Nanooks tallied the final three points of the set to take the 2-1 lead on a Rilee White ace. 

In the fourth, the Nanooks played from behind until late. Saint Martin's quickly held a five-point advantage out the gate. Alaska used a pair of Nielson and White kills to pull within one at 10-11 before the Saints advantage grew again. 

The deficit hit four for the Nanooks at 12-16 and eventually five at the 17-22 mark, but after a ball handling error on the Saints gave the serve back to the Nanooks, they took advantage of the situation. Jessa Long served six-straight points, helping get the lead back for the Nanooks at 24-23. The Saints re-tied the set at 24-24 before Elena Guc gave the Nanooks a 25-24 lead and an attack error by SMU gave the Nanooks the win as they bounced back following their loss on Thursday, Sept. 8. 

Karli Nielson had a career-day, posting 22 kills while hitting .583. She added four block assists, five digs and three aces. Rilee White added 11 kills and eight digs. Jessa Long led the way with 16 digs while Taylor Overn posted 11 of her own. Ainsley Smith and Overn shared the distribution as Smith led the way with 24 and Overn added 17.

Elizabeth Jackson was a brick wall at the net, posting 11 block assists, including nine in the final two sets. Elena Guc added six blocks, combining for 17 block assists with Jackson. 

The Nanooks head to Seattle Pacific next Thursday, Sept. 15 and face Montana State Billings on Saturday, Sept. 17 before returning home on Sept. 22. 

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.