FAIRBANKS - The Nanooks volleyball squad dropped to 0-2, 0-0 GNAC on the season with a hard-fought four-set loss to the Chaminade Silverswords on Thursday night. Alaska grabbed the first set before surrendering the final three to the Swords.

Chaminade came into tonight's matchup with 112 received votes in the Aug. 22 AVCA Division II Poll, putting them just outside of the top-25; tonight, the Nanooks hung with them the whole way. In the first, the Nanooks ran away with a 25-20 win, grabbing their first set victory of the season and pumping up a lively crowd in the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium. Despite dropping the next three sets, Alaska was in every point and held a lead in each of the three final sets. To open the first, both sides came out swinging. They quickly traded points and small runs out to a 5-5 score. Behind kills from Josie Jansen and Karli Nielson, the Nanooks found themselves ahead 8-5. They would maintain the multipoint lead for much of the remainder of the set, fending off the Swords who clawed their way back to within one on a few occasions. After the 5-5 tie, the Nanooks never saw another tie or lead change, using four kills from Karli Nielson, three from Ella Bines, Josie Jansen and Lily Stewart and 15 assists from Ainsley Smith. 

The 'Nooks held their 1-0 lead into the second and the second set followed in the first's footsteps as the two sides came out trading punches until the 10-9 mark. CUH pulled ahead 10-9 before pushing ahead 14-11. The Nanooks hung close, pulling within two at the 15-13 mark, but Chaminade's offense showed up in the second as their .364 hit percentage pulled them away from the Nanooks late. Alaska only swung .088 in the second as they fell in the second stanza 25-18. After Alaska pulled within a pair, CUH pulled ahead by as many as seven before making it 1-1. The third set opened up close as the Nanooks and Swords traded points until CUH pulled ahead 11-7 on a pair of back-to-back kills. After their lead extended to five at 17-12, the Nanooks rallied, stringing four points together on a pair of Nielson kills and a Jansen kill, making it 17-16 Chaminade. CUH answered, running ahead to a 24-21 lead before grabbing the set 25-22.

In the fourth, Alaska held on to an early first-half lead before the Swords pushed past, grabbing the win late. Alaska jumped out to a quick 6-4 lead on two Bines' kills and a Nielson kill before extending their lead to 10-6. They maintained a small advantage until Chaminade tied the set at 13-13 and grabbed the lead on an Alaska attack error. They would pull away for a small lead until the 'Nooks retied the set at 17-17 on another attack error. Lily Stewart later pulled the blue and gold within one at 20-19, but that was all the Nanooks would get for the remainder of the set and match. Chaminade would go on to grab the final five points and win the set 25-19 and take the match 3-1. 

Karli Nielson posted the first double-double of the Nanooks' season with an 11-kill, 11-dig performance. Alongside that, she posted two blocks and an ace. Ella Bines put up a team-high 13 kills with a .360 hit percentage. Alongside Bines and Nielson, Lily Stewart posted double-digit kills, ending the night with 10 and a .320 hit percentage. Ainsley Smith distributed a season-high 37 assists while picking up eight digs. Kinley Erickson led the way in digs with 13.

The Nanooks have Friday, Aug. 25 off and will play two on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. They'll face Chaminade and Hawaii Hilo again on Saturday. 

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Instagram or X, or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.