FAIRBANKS – The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team comes home after a 1-1 road trip to Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings. They'll take on Simon Fraser and Western Washington at the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center on Sept. 22 and 24. 
 
Thursday, Sept. 22
Simon Fraser Red Leafs | 11:30 a.m. | Live Video | Live Stats
Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center | Tickets
 
Saturday, Sept. 24
Western Washington Vikings | 2:00 p.m. | Live Video | Live Stats
Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center | Tickets
 
Last Time Out
The Nanooks are fresh off of a sweep of the Montana State Billings (6-5, 0-4 GNAC) volleyball team on Saturday, Sept. 17. A few days earlier, the 'Nooks fell to the Seattle Pacific Falcons (3-9, 1-3 GNAC) in Seattle, Wash., battling, but falling in four sets. On Thursday, the Nanooks fell 3-1 to SPU. After dropping the first set, Alaska won set two 25-15. Unfortunately, SPU rallied to take sets three and four. Karli Nielson and Rilee White both posted 14 kills in the loss. Alaska bounced back in strong fashion on Saturday, Sept. 17 with a sweep of MSUB. Rilee White led the way with nine kills while three other Nanooks added eight kills. They took the three-set win 25-18, 25-19, 25-23. 
 
Field Day & Warrior of the Month
The Nanooks will host a Field Day on Thursday, Sept. 22 against Simon Fraser as elementary kids will flood the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center for the 11:30 a.m. start.
 
On Saturday, Sept. 24, the Nanooks will host #10 Western Washington University and will present their first Warrior of the Month awards. Warrior of the Month is a partnership between the Alaska Nanooks athletics department and Fort Wainwright. 
 
Banner Night
The Alaska Nanooks rifle team will unveil their 2022 PRC Championship banner before the Sept. 24 game against Western Washington. Come out to the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center and celebrate the rifle team's 2021-22 successes and cheer them on as they begin their 2022-23 season on Oct. 7-8 when Ohio State comes to Fairbanks! 
 
Where to Watch
All Alaska Nanooks volleyball games are streamed for free on the Alaska Nanooks YouTube page. CLICK HERE
 
Live Stats are provided for free as well through Sidearm Sports Live Stats. CLICK HERE
 
Quick Hitters

• Alaska has three hitters in the top-20 for hitting percentage in the GNAC with Kristina Head leading the trio. She currently sits in eighth with a .322 hit percentage, adding 123 kills in 59 sets.
• Karli Nielson is in 18^th with a .265 hit percentage and 169 kills in 61 sets. Joining her in 61 sets is Elizabeth Jackson. Jackson is hitting .262 with 96 kills and 221 attempts. 
• Rilee White leads the 'Nooks in kills per set, and currently sits in seventh in the GNAC with 2.89 kills/set. She has 176 on the season in 61 sets. 
• Ainsley Smith currently sits in the top-10 of assists per set as the R-Fr. has posted 5.74 assists/set while splitting the distribution duties with Taylor Overn. 
• Rilee White leads the GNAC in total service aces with 36 and is currently second in the GNAC with a 0.62 service aces/set rate, trailing Eve Stephens of UAA by only 0.07.
• Karli Nielson joins her in the top-10. She's currently seventh with a 0.46 service ace/set rate with 28 total aces on the season.
• Elizabeth Jackson leads the GNAC in total blocks (74.0) and currently sits in third for blocks per set. She is averaging 1.21 blocks/set with 19 solo blocks and 55 block assists. 
• Kristina Head is in sixth with 1.10 blocks/set on 16 solo blocks and 49 block assists. 
• Jessa Long has made her name known around GNAC households. The graduate-transfer has tallied 257 digs on the season to lead the GNAC. She currently sits in second with 4.21 digs per set, trailing only Christine Funk of MSUB who is averaging 4.68 digs/set. 
• Alaska, as a team, leads the GNAC in two categories; blocks and service aces. The 'Nooks are averaging 2.51 blocks/set with 153.0 total blocks through 61 sets. They've tallied 49 solo blocks and 208 block assists.
• As for service aces, the Nanooks have 147 on the season for 2.41 service aces/set. Alaska Anchorage follows in second with 119 total and a 2.29 service ace/set average. 

 
National Spotlight

• The Nanooks currently sit in 12^th as a team for blocks per set as they average 2.51 blocks/set. 
• They're 18^th in NCAA Division II in aces per set, averaging 2.41. They're also in the top-60 of hitting percentage (50^th - .232) and assists per set (59^th – 11.82).
• Elizabeth Jackson currently sits atop the Division II total blocks category. Her 74 total blocks gives her six more than the second-place blocker, Bella Ray of Lewis (GLVC). Kristina Head is just two spots behind, currently sitting in third in Division II with 65 total blocks. 
• Jackson's 19 solo blocks puts her in seventh for the most block solos in the nation. The leader, Saupuni Mavaega, has tallied 29 solo blocks for Holy Names.
• Jessa Long's 257 assists ties her for 13^th in the nation with Abbie Casper of Mo. Southern State. 
• Rilee White's 38 aces still leads the Division II. Karli Nielson joins her in the top-20 with her 28 as she sits in 15^th in Division II. 

 
Scouting the Opponents
 
Simon Fraser Red Leafs (5-7, 2-1 GNAC)
Simon Fraser, the now Red Leafs, will come up after their one-game weekend. They squared up with Western Washington University on Sept. 17 in Bellingham, Wash. and were swept. Brooke Dexter led the way for the Red Leafs, posting 10 kills while Kalyn Hartmann was the next top-hitter with six kills for SFU. Eva Person posted a team-high 15 assists while Serena Gentile added a dozen of her own.  
 
On the season, Brooke Dexter is the leader on the attack for Simon Fraser. She has 146 total kills on the season. Jocelyn Sherman is next on the list with 107. Ava Khademi leads the way with 121 digs and service aces with 20. Serena Gentile has 315 assists for SFU, leading the Red Leafs by nearly 200. Their next best distributor has 131 (Eva Person). Finally, Kalyn Hartmann leads the way at the net with 56.0 blocks. Abby Willett is second for SFU with 38.0. 
 
AVCA #10 Western Washington Vikings (8-3, 3-0 GNAC)
Western is fresh off of a sweep of SFU on Sept. 17. This was also their only game of the week. They took the sweep 25-16, 25-21, 25-20. They won nearly every team category, outscoring SFU in points 59-40, outhitting with 42-34 in kills, out serving with 5-2 aces, out blocking 12-4 and out passing with 39-33 in assists. SFU won in digs, posting 53-47 in the digs category. Western Washington was led by Olivia Fairchild, who tallied 10 kills. Gabby Gunterman and Calley Heilborn added eight each. Malia Aleaga posted a game-high 36 assists while Kasey Woodruff and Gunterman posted 10 and 11 digs respectively. 
 
The Vikings are led by the trio of Gabby Gunterman, Calley Heilborn and Chloe Roetcisoender on the attack. Gunterman leads with 107, Heilborn is just behind with 106 and Roetcisoender follows with 105. Aleaga takes care of most of the distribution, leading the way with 435 assists. No other Viking has more than 20 on the year. Gunterman and Heilborn join Kasey Woodruff on the defensive end as the top-three for total digs. Woodruff leads with 146, Heilborn follows with 135 and Gunterman cracked the century mark on Saturday; she now has 105 on the season. Roetcisoender leads the way at the net with 52.0 total blocks and Olivia Fairchild follows in second with 36.0 total blocks. 
 
GNAC in the Top-25
Week #4 of the AVCA Division II Coaches Polls was released on Monday, Sept. 19. Two teams saw their names in the Top-25 and one more received votes. 
 
10. Western Washington (747 total points) – 9-3, 3-0 GNAC
14. Alaska Anchorage (519 total points) – 14-1, 4-0 GNAC
RV. Central Washington (35 votes received) – 7-4, 2-1 GNAC
 
Current GNAC Standings

1. Alaska Anchorage – 14-1, 4-0 GNAC
2. Northwest Nazarene – 10-1, 3-0 GNAC
3. Western Washington – 8-3, 3-0 GNAC
4. Simon Fraser – 5-7, 2-1 GNAC
5. Central Washington – 7-4, 2-1 GNAC
6. Alaska – 12-4, 2-2 GNAC
7. Western Oregon – 5-7, 1-3 GNAC
8. Seattle Pacific – 3-9, 1-3 GNAC
9. Saint Martin's – 9-4, 0-4 GNAC
10. Montana State Billings – 6-5, 0-4 GNAC

 
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.