FAIRBANKS - The Nanooks volleyball team looks to stay hot as they hit the road for a pair of road matches at Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific. 

Thursday, Oct. 26
at Montana State Billings | 5:00 p.m. AKT
Alterowitz Gymnasium | Billings, Mont.
Watch Here | Live Stats

Saturday, Oct. 28
at #19 Seattle Pacific | 1:00 p.m. AKT
Royal Brougham Pavilion | Seattle, Wash.
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Last Time Out
The Nanooks are fresh off of two wins against Western Washington University and Simon Fraser. The WWU victory was their first over the Vikings since Oct. 2008, snapping a 28-match losing streak. The win over Simon Fraser also gave them their third-straight and second in three matches in a row with a win over a team appearing in the AVCA Top-25. Two weeks ago, the Nanooks defeated #16 Central Washington. Simon Fraser was receiving votes at the time of the match on Oct. 21. The 'Nooks grabbed a four-set win over the Red Leafs to continue to climb the GNAC standings. Their sweep of WWU was the first sweep against Western Washington since the 1998 season (pre-GNAC).

#NookNotes

• The Nanooks currently sit in 29th in the nation with 176 team service aces. They are also just outside of the top-10 in total blocks as a team with 196.5.
• Kristina Head currenlty leads the Nanooks in hitting percentage with a .266 swing percentage. She has 103 kills and a 1.36 kills/set average. 
• Karli Nielson has been blistering hot offensively lately. The junior has 266 kills through 90 sets for 2.96 kills per set. She leads the team by nearly 100 kills as Lily Stewart follows in second with 171 kills. 
• Ainsley Smith and Cynphany Henderson have split the distribution this season. Ainsley Smith has seen time in 14 more sets (84) than Henderson (70) and currenlty leads the way in assists with 506 (6.02/set). Henderson follows with 349 assists (4.99/set).
• Rilee White leads the way with 33 service aces on the year. Head (29 aces) has her beat in the aces per set with 0.38/set, White follows with 0.37. 
• Head and Josie Jansen are well ahead the rest of the pack in total blocks through the season. Head leads the team with 80.0 total blocks and Jansen follows with 77.0. 
• Grace Steurer and White lead the way in digs. Steurer has the team lead with 297 total (3.45/set) and White is the only other Nanook with over 200 digs. She has 222 (2.49/set).
• The Nanooks look to get by MSUB for the second time this season. They swept the Yellow Jackets in the earlier matchup in Fairbanks. 
• Alaska looks to regroup and get Seattle Pacific back after the Falcons beat the 'Nooks in Fairbanks in four sets. 

Ranked GNAC Teams
Alaska will face yet another ranked GNAC team in #19 Seattle Pacific. This will be the fourth game against a top-25 GNAC team, their seventh game against a GNAC school either in the top-25 or receiving votes and their 10th matchup with a ranked/RV team. 

Nielson's World
Karli Nielson of the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team was named the GNAC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, Oct. 23 after a big week that saw the Nanooks go 2-0 on their home court. 

On Thursday, Oct. 19, the Nanooks made volleyball history, defeating Western Washington University for the first time since the 2008 season. Not only did they defeat the Vikings, but they did it in straight-set fashion; their first sweep of WWU since Oct. 10, 1998. The preseason all-conference selection had a killer weekend on the offensive end, putting up nine kills and seven digs in the sweep before posting 14 kills and nine digs in the Nanooks' four-set win over the Simon Fraser Red Leafs on Saturday, Oct. 21. 

With the pair of wins, the Nanooks are 3-1 in their last four matches, including wins over #16-ranked CWU, WWU and RV SFU. "Karli is always a statistical leader for us in kills and she does a great job scoring points for us," said head coach Brian Scott. "That held true last weekend and she was able to come up big for us in key moments. She worked really hard to be a solid passer in serve-receive and that really allowed our offense to run. She'd be the first to tell you that you can't be good without good teammates, and any award that comes out of our success is a reflection on the whole group."

GNAC All-Academic
Rilee White headlined the Nanooks' selection as the junior from Goodyear, Ariz. was selected for the third-time in her career. The pin-hitter is a biological sciences major and has maintained a 3.96 cumulative GPA in her time at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Also making the team again was junior L/DS Kinley Erickson. The junior was selected for her second-career time; the communications major from North Pole has maintained a 3.87 GPA. Karli Nielson, an outside hitter from South Weber, Utah was selected for the second time in her career as well, posting a 3.81 GPA in her justice studies. 

Three other Alaska players made the team for the first time in their careers. Elena Guc led the way with a 4.00. The sophomore RS from East China, Mich. boasts the highest GPA out of the six Nanooks selected. Ainsley Smith, a redshirt-sophomore setter for the Nanooks also made it for the first time. The North Pole native is studying biological sciences and has maintained a 3.98 GPA. Finally, Elizabeth Jackson made the team for the first time as the junior middle earned a 3.30 GPA in her studies of Psychology.

GNAC Standings

Team	GNAC	Overall	Streak
Seattle Pacific	10-1	16-3	W4
Central Washington	7-4	13-6	W1
Simon Fraser	7-4	12-7	L1
Western Washington	7-4	7-12	W1
Saint Martin's	6-4	13-7	W2
Northwest Nazarene	5-6	9-10	L1
Alaska	5-6	12-13	W3
Alaska Anchorage	4-7	12-14	L2
Western Oregon	2-8	8-10	L5
Montana State Billings	1-10	3-18	L3

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