BILLINGS, Mont. - The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team (12-4, 2-2 GNAC) defeated the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets (6-5, 0-4 GNAC) in straight sets on Saturday, Sept. 17 to bounce back following their loss to SPU on Sept. 15. 

This win got the 'Nooks back to .500 in conference play and sets them up for a return home on Thursday, Sept. 22 when they host the Simon Fraser Red Leafs. 

Alaska used 44 kills and a hitting percentage of .254 over the three sets to take the sweep. They held MSUB to 30 kills and a hit percentage of .097. In addition to the offense, the Nanooks tallied 45 digs and 40 assists, knocking the Yellowjackets off 25-18, 25-19 and 25-23. The Nanooks controlled the entire first set, tying it at 3-3 on a Kristina Head ace before taking the lead and never looking back. That was the only tie and lead change in the first set. The Nanooks quickly grew their lead to 13-4 on a seven-point run behind Ainsley Smith's serving. She tallied one service ace while Rilee White added two kills in the run. Folliwing an MSUB point, White had her turn to serve and stretched the lead to 10 at 16-6. 

The Jackets made a small run late, but the 'Nooks put the set away 25-18 on an Ella Bines kill, her second of the match. At the end of one, the Nanooks had six in the kills category with Elizsbeth Jackson and White tallying three each and three others with two. The second set followed the outline of set one as the 'Nooks took the lead once and never looked back. MSUB managed to tie it up twice, but once the Nanooks were ahead, they held on to it. After two early ties, the Nanooks made it 10-7 on an Elena Guc kill. Their lead continued to grow, reaching nine at the 19-10 mark on a Rilee White kill. After another small run by MSUB, the Nanooks made it 24-18 on a Jackson kill and Ainsley Smith ace. Jackson then ended set two with a kill, winning it 25-19 for Alaska. 

Set three was the closest on the day, but the Nanooks prevailed in the end to complete the sweep. MSUB managed to tie the set four times and took a small one-point lead at the midway point, but the Nanooks regrabbed the lead at 11-10 and ran away from there. Their lead quickly grew to five on a 5-1 run, making it 17-12 on a Karli Nielson ace. The Yellowjackets crawled back, pulling within three at 22-19. Their threat continued as they grabbed the next three points, making it 24-23 Alaska but an attack error ended their run and gave the Nanooks their win. 

Rilee White led the 'Nooks offensive attack with nine kills. She added four digs and two block assists. The offensive attack was spread as three other Nanooks had eight kills; Ella Bines, Elena Guc and Elizabeth Jackson. Bines posted a pair of block assists and three digs and Jackson added one block assist and dig while hitting .583. Kristina Head led the 'Nooks at the net with four block assists. Jessa Long dug a game-high 14 balls and Ainsley Smith and Taylor Overn shared the distribution, once again, as Smith posted 18 assists and Overn added 16. 

Head coach Brian Scott was proud of his team's rebound and ability to spread the love on the offensive end, "It was nice to bounce back from Thursday's loss and keep pressure on our opponent for the whole match. Our setters did a good job distributing the ball and attacking their defense with opportunities we thought we could go after."

The Nanooks return home next week to take on Simon Fraser and Western Washington on Sept. 22-24.

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.