FAIRBANKS - The Alaska Nanooks are leaving the state one last time as they hit the road for matchups with Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene this week.
Thursday, Nov. 9
at Central Washington | 6:00 p.m.
Ellensburg, Wash.
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Saturday, Nov. 11
at Northwest Nazarene | 11:00 a.m.
Nampa, Idaho
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Last Time Out
The Nanooks are fresh off of their senior celebration week at home. On Thursday, Nov. 2, they fell to the Saint Martin's Saints in straight sets.
Ella Bines led the way with nine kills while
Karli Nielson posted a dozen digs,
Kristina Head blocked three and
Cynphany Henderson and
Ainsley Smith dished out 17 assists. On Saturday, the Nanooks celebrated their trio of seniors as
Reese Rossnagel,
Grace Steurer and
Lily Stewart had their final moments on the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium. Stewart led the way with 14 kills, Steurer had 13 digs, Head posted four more blocks and Smith distributed 29 assists.
#NookNotes
- Alaska enters the second-to-last week of their regular-season 10th in the nation in total team blocks. The Nanooks have 227.5 on the year, putting them third in the GNAC.
- They cracked the top-50 as a team in three other categories; team kills (39th - 1,297), team service aces (36th - 199) and 33rd (team assists - 1,213).
- Three Nanooks are in the top-100 for different individual categories. Kristina Head and Josie Jansen both appear in the total blocks and blocks per set categories. Head is 91st in blocks per set with 0.99 and 83rd in total blocks with 90. Jansen is 84th in blocks per set with 1.00 and 56th in total blocks with 96.
- Karli Nielson currently sits in second in the GNAC and 99th in the nation with her 308 kills, giving her a new career-high.
- Alaska is looking to maintain their success against Central Washington from earlier this season. On Oct. 14 the Nanooks took a 3-1 win over the Wildcats in Fairbanks. CWU was ranked #16 in the nation at the time.
- The 'Nooks are looking to get back at NNU after the Nighthawks grabbed a four-set win over Alaska two days before the upset-victory.
- Central is 8-2 against the Nanooks over the last 10 matchups while the Nanooks lead NNU 6-4 over the last 10 matchups.
GNAC Standings
- Seattle Pacific (19-4, 13-2 GNAC)
- Central Washington (16-6, 10-4 GNAC)
- Simon Fraser (14-8, 9-5 GNAC)
- Western Washington (9-13, 9-5 GNAC)
- Saint Martin's (15-9, 8-6 GNAC)
- Alaska Anchorage (15-15, 7-8 GNAC)
- Northwest Nazarene (10-12, 6-8 GNAC)
- Alaska (13-16, 6-9 GNAC)
- Western Oregon (9-13, 3-11 GNAC)
- Montana State Billings (3-22, 1-14 GNAC)
Regional Rankings
Three teams from the GNAC are in the NCAA DII Volleyball Regional Top-10. Seattle Pacific leads the way at #4, Central Washington follows at #8 and Simon Fraser sits at #10.
AVCA Top-25
Seattle Pacific and Central Washington are the lone-GNAC teams in the AVCA Top-25 as of Nov. 6. SPU is currenlty 18th in the nation and CWU is 19th. The matchup with CWU on Nov. 9 will be the Nanooks' 11th matchup this season with a top-25 or team receiving votes.
What's to Come
Following this week's matches, the Nanooks will end their regular-season in Alaska on Nov. 16 when they head to UAA for the road-match of their in-state rivalry. The last time the Nanooks and Seawolves played, UAA grabbed a 3-0 win in the Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic on Sept. 7.
Trend Setters
Karli Nielson is sitting just outside of the top-10 for individual career kills in a Nanooks career. She currently is sitting at 797 career kills. Tara Hollenbeck (1998-01) is currently 10th in Nanooks history with 832 kills.
Ainsley Smith is currently sitting in 10th in career assists as the redshirt-sophomore has 1228 assists. This season she jumped Kirsten Toy (1987-88, 90-91) and Kimber Jones (2000-01) to crack the top-10. Dasa Capova (2003-04) is the next in her sights. Capova ended her career with the 'Nooks with 1277 assists.
Kristina Head currently holds the fifth-most block assists in a season with 90 (2022). She currently sits at 86 this season and looks to break her personal-record set a season ago.
Elizabeth Jackson is currently in the top-three after posting 94 a season ago, third-best ever.
Emily Moorhead holds the single-season record for block assists in a season, posting 117 in 2021, breaking her former teammate, Kim Wong's record of 105 set in 2019.
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