Karli Nielson and Rilee White at Blue/Gold
Nathan Pearsall
3
Winner Alas. Fairbanks UAF 4-2,0-0 Great Northwest
1
CUI CUI 2-1,0-0 PacWest
Winner
Alas. Fairbanks UAF
4-2,0-0 Great Northwest
3
Final
1
CUI CUI
2-1,0-0 PacWest
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Alas. Fairbanks UAF 23 25 25 25 (3)
CUI CUI 25 20 23 19 (1)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Alex Dean - Assistant Sports Information Director

Nanooks Volleyball Picks up Second Win of the Day vs. CUI

IRVINE, Calif. -  The Nanooks volleyball team earned its second win of the day and fourth in a row against Concordia University Irvine, taking down the hosting Golden Eagles in four sets. With the win, Alaska moves to 4-2 on the season (0-0 GNAC), while CUI suffers its first loss of the season and falls to 2-1, 0-0 PacWest.

How It Happened
Neither team led by more than three points during the first set, with Alaska hitting .316 as a team compared to .289 for the hosts. However, the Nanooks lost out on service aces, blocks and ball-handling errors and dropped the opening set 25-23. Rilee White opened the match by notching six kills during the first, but that was not enough to get the Nanooks the set victory. The second set began with Alaska trailing 5-2 early on, with the Golden Eagles slamming four kills. The Nanooks would respond with four straight scores, aided by kills and blocks from White and Josie Jansen. After a 3-0 run by CUI, Alaska scored four straight again, with two kills by Jansen and two aces by White. After a Concordia timeout, White notched her third-consecutive service ace, bringing Alaska's lead to 11-8. Two more points by the Nanooks built the lead to five. The Golden Eagles would make it a one-score set at 18-17, but kills from White, Karli Nielson and Ainsley Smith helped Alaska take the second set 25-20 and tie the match at one.

Alaska again trailed early to start the third set, falling behind 10-5. After fighting back to tie it at 14, neither team led by more than two points for the rest of the set. However, Alaska came out on top, finishing the set up 25-23 to take a 2-1 lead over CUI. This was the only set where the Nanooks trailed the Golden Eagles in hitting percentage, posting a .154 mark to CUI's .222. However, the Nanooks finished on top in aces and blocks.

The Nanooks made sure not to begin the fourth set as they did the previous two, racing out to a 9-1 lead, with White, Nielson, Elizabeth Jackson and Elena Guc notching two kills during the opening portion. Despite CUI rattling off four straight points later in the set and cutting the lead to three at 22-19, the Nanooks were able to close out the fourth with three consecutive points, receiving two straight kills from Nielson to take the set 25-19 and complete the 3-1 victory.

By the Numbers

  • White and Nielson notched double-digit kill marks, posting totals of 17 and 14, respectively. They also tied each other for the team lead in service aces, notching three apiece.
  • Smith matched her season high in assists with 46. She added two service aces, four digs and five kills on a .500 hit percentage.
  • Tessa Onaga set a season-best mark in digs with 27.
  • Guc finished just shy of double-digit kills, logging nine during the contest.
  • The Nanooks hit .218 kills as a team while slamming nine more kills than their opponents, finishing with 56 compared to 47 for the Golden Eagles.
  • Alaska had nine service aces, matching their season high for 2024.


What's Next
Alaska returns to action tomorrow with a morning showdown at Azusa Pacific, with first serve against the Cougars set for 9 a.m. AKST.

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