FAIRBANKS – The Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) named the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team their Team of the Week on Tuesday, Sept. 6 following the Nanooks' Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic championship.
In their four games at the Classic, the Nanooks grabbed four-set victories over Black Hills State on Sept. 1, Florida Southern on Sept. 2 and Arkansas-Fort Smith on Sept. 3 before defeating Findlay on Saturday, Sept. 3 in a two-hour marathon that lasted all five sets. In the final match of the DSB Ice Block Classic, the Nanooks were looking at a 1-2 deficit before turning around and winning the fourth set 25-21 and the final set 15-12 to capture the title.
Over the weekend, the Nanooks were led by
Karli Nielson and
Rilee White on the offensive end. The pair of sophomores tallied 51 and 54 kills, respectively, while adding .297 and .268 swing percentages over the 17 sets played.
Ella Bines and
Kristina Head added 30 and 32 kills each while
Ainsley Smith led the distribution department with 94 assists. She split time with
Taylor Overn, who added 79 assists on the weekend. White posted 20 service-aces, doubling the next best, eight, by Nielson and Smith.
On the defensive end,
Kristina Head and
Elizabeth Jackson held down the net responsibilities as they totaled 40 blocks together. They were in on 40.0 of the Nanooks' 48.0 total blocks over the weekend as Head posted nine solo and nine assist for a total of 18 while Jackson made her solo presence known, tallying 16 solo blocks and six block assists for 22 total. Each of them averaged over a block a set as Head posted 1.06/set and Jackson posted 1.29/set.
Jessa Long kept the back row in check, picking up 69 digs over the four-game span, averaging 4.06/set.
Head coach
Brian Scott has been proud of the Nanooks work ethic to start the season. Their 10-2 record is one of the best starts in program history and takes them into GNAC conference play. They open conference play on Thursday, Sept. 8 against Western Oregon. "We are proud of the hard work the team has been putting in over the past few weeks and glad to see it paying off. Every member of this team contributes to our success and we are grateful for their desire to constantly improve. We'll continue to get better as we fine tune our skills and become disciplined in our systems."
Alongside their 10-2 start, the Nanooks received 31 votes in the Sept. 5 AVCA Division II Coaches Poll.
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