FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team wrapped up its home campaign Saturday afternoon against Western Oregon. In addition to the game, the Nanooks honored seniors in their final home game in the Patty Center. For graduate transfers, Grace Steurer, Lily Stewart and Reese Rossnagel, this was their goodbye to the Patty. The Nanooks fell in four sets, winning the first before dropping the final three. With the loss, the Nanooks drop to 13-16, 6-9 GNAC. 

Both teams traded scores to open the first set. A Lily Stewart kill broke the early 4-4 tie. Kills by Ella Bines and Josie Jansen pushed the lead to two, 7-5. After a Western Oregon run to tie the set, the teams fell back into a holding pattern, trading small runs until Rilee White tied the set at 12. Another Stewart kill and a Wolves attack error extended the Alaska lead 14-12. Western Oregon briefly cut the Alaska lead to one. Kills by Karli Nielson and Jansen, followed by an Ainsley Smith service ace, extended the Nanooks' lead to 18-14. Western Oregon swiftly responded, rattling off six straight for a two-point late-set lead, 20-18. Nielson briefly halted the Wolves' run with a kill. Two straight from Western Oregon were immediately answered by Alaska, seeing Kristina Head, Bines, and Nielson all get kills to tie the set at 22. After a Bines error briefly gave WOU a lead, she immediately made up for it with a kill, tying the set at 23. A Western Oregon attack error gave the Nanooks set point. Western Oregon would temporarily tie the set at 24-24. An attack error and a Rilee White kill gave the Nanooks the first set, 26-24. 

Western Oregon came out hot in the second set, flipping its performance on both sides of the ball, holding the Nanooks to a .118 hitting percentage after a .308 first-set hitting percentage. Offensively, the Wolves flipped the script as well, swinging .481 percent versus .207 in the first. The Wolves walked away with the second set, 25-16. 

The final two sets were more of the same, as Alaska would not reach its first set percentages, falling 25-21 in both the third and fourth sets. In her final home game for the Nanooks, Lily Stewart led the way with 14 kills, adding a.303 hitting percentage and four block assists. Fellow senior Grace Steurer led the way in digs with 13. She added three assists and two service aces. 

The Nanooks will continue its 2023 season on the road, heading to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene for two road matches. 

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