FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team surrendered the first set to the Simon Fraser Red Leafs before taking sets two, three and four for a 3-1 victory. With the win, the 'Nooks improve to 13-4, 3-2 GNAC and drop the Red Leafs to 5-8, 2-2 GNAC.
All of this came in front of 762 fans on a Thursday afternoon as the Nanooks hosted numerous Fairbanks students on their annual Field Day.
SFU jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead over the Nanooks after the first set went to extra points, ending in a 26-24 win for the Red Leafs. The Nanooks used strong offensive explosions in sets two and three to grab commanding set wins, 25-14 and 25-16. In the final set, the Nanooks fended off a late SFU push to complete their comeback and take the 3-1 win.
The first set saw massive swings of momentum throughout it's entirety. The Nanooks trailed for most of the set and following a 7-1 run by SFU, making it 22-14 Red Leafs, the Nanooks started their comeback. They returned the favor with a 10-1 run of their own, taking a one-point lead at 24-23 to look at set-point, but unfortunately, the Red Leafs used an Alaska attack error, kill and service ace to string together three-straight points for the two-point win in set one, 26-24. The 'Nooks were led by three kills from
Rilee White in the first, while two others,
Kristina Head and
Karli Nielson, posted two of their own kills.
A quick 5-1 lead showed on the scoreboard as
Karli Nielson and Head jumpstarted the Nanook offense in set two. SFU made a quick climb, pulling within one as the two teams traded points, but after an 8-7 Alaska lead, the Nanooks found their stride and never looked back. They quickly turned their lead into 10, pushing it to 19-9 on another kill from Head. SFU snapped their run, but Alaska soon made it an 11-point lead and took set two by the score 25-14. Three Nanooks posted three kills in the second set as
Ella Bines,
Elena Guc and Head each posted three kills.
Jessa Long had nine digs in the second. The momentum carried into the third set as the Nanooks repeated. They defeated SFU by nine, 25-16, behind an early jump.
Elena Guc,
Elizabeth Jackson and
Karli Nielson quickly pushed the Nanooks ahead 7-2 before Simon Fraser battled back to pull within one. After SFU's small run, the Nanooks used a 6-2 run to make it 14-7, capitalizing on an SFU ballhandling error. Their lead grew to nine on another Nielson kill, making it 18-9 before they stretched it to 10 at 24-14. A service error from Simon Fraser gave the Nanooks the 25-16 set three win and a 2-1 lead.
Karli Nielson led the way with five kills in the third while
Ainsley Smith assisted on eight plays in the third.
The fourth set saw 11 tie scores and three lead changes. After SFU jumped ahead early, Alaska quickly responded, jumping ahead by four at 8-4 on back-to-back service aces from
Kinley Erickson. Simon Fraser fought back, eventually overtaking the 'Nooks at the 12-11 mark on their own ace. After they moved ahead by three, the Nanooks answered with three-straight, tying the set at 14-14. The two teams traded points until the 17-17 mark when SFU grabbed a four-point lead, making it 21-17 Red Leafs.
Rilee White killed the SFU run with a kill, swinging the momentum back to the Alaska side. Behind a Guc kill and five-straight serves from White, the Nanooks stormed back to take a 24-23 lead. Simon Fraser tied it again at 24-24 but a
Karli Nielson and
Jessa Long service ace ended it 26-24 for the win.
Kristina Head led the way offensively for the Nanooks posting 13 kills with a .400 hit percentage. She added two block assists and one solo and had one service ace.
Karli Nielson posted 10 kills while adding one dig and block assist.
Elizabeth Jackson ended the day with four kills but added seven blocks, five solo and two assist.
Jessa Long had another stellar night on the defensive end, collecting 28 digs and adding seven assists.
Kinley Erickson added nine of her own digs. Finally,
Ainsley Smith posted a double-double, dishing out 22 assists and collecting 11 digs.
The Nanooks are back in action on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 2:00 p.m. as they host the #10-ranked Western Washington Vikings.
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.
