AZUSA, Calif. - The Nanooks volleyball team capped off their perfect California road trip on Saturday morning, defeating Azusa Pacific in five sets to nab their fifth straight victory. Alaska now sits at 5-2, 0-0 GNAC, while the Cougars drop to 1-2, 0-0 PacWest.
How It Happened
Alaska jumped out to a six-point lead in the first set, holding an 11-5 advantage over APU. The Cougars would cut the lead to two, scoring four consecutive points, but the Nanooks built their lead back out to five with a 5-2 run, with four kills from Elena Guc, Elizabeth Jackson, Karli Nielson and Rilee White. Alaska kept APU at arm's length, holding at least a four-point lead until five straight Cougar points brought it to a one-score set at 23-22. However, the Nooks held on to take the opening set 25-23, capped off by a kill from White, her fourth of the set. Jackson, Guc and Nielson joined White with four kills in the first. Alaska notched a match-high 17 team kills during the set, hitting .271.
The second set saw four lead changes, with neither team building an advantage of more than three points for most of the set. After Azusa Pacific held a 16-15 lead over Alaska, the Nanooks rattled off five straight scores, with Nielson chipping in with a pair of kills. The hosts scored the next two, making it 20-18 Alaska, but the Blue & Gold would take the set 25-20. Nielsen's eight kills in the second brought her match total to 12, while the Nanooks posted their best team hitting percentage of the contest at .417.
After being down 18-13 to start the third, Alaska scored three straight times, led by Josie Jansen's one kill and two block assists, to bring APU's lead down to two. After a Cougars timeout, Azusa Pacific would score seven of the last nine points and take the 25-18 victory. The Nanooks posted their worst hitting percentage of the match at .043. The Nanooks would also fall in the fourth set, 25-20. Despite holding a 7-6 lead early on, Alaska surrendered five of the following six points, with APU receiving four kills from Delaney Tate. The Nanooks could not retake the lead for the rest of the set and were out-hit .406 to .195.
The decisive set began strongly for Alaska, scoring the first four points off of kills by White, Jansen and Nielson. The Cougars would make it a one-score set at 6-5, but a 6-1 run from the Nooks saw them see out the remainder of the contest and take the final set 15-9. Alaska rediscovered the strong attacking form it showed in the opening two sets, hitting .375 as a team after two sets of sub-.200 hitting percentages. 12 of their 15 points came from kills, with Jansen leading the way with four.
By the Numbers
- Nielson posted her first 20+ kill outing of the season, notching a team-leading 21. Her season-high 14 digs also gave Nielson her first double-double of 2024.
- White and Ainsley Smith also notched double-doubles for the Nanooks, with White posting a season-high 18 kills and 14 digs and Smith finishing with 51 assists and 12 digs.
- Tessa Onaga set season-highs in assists (8) and digs (32). This marks her second consecutive match with 20+ digs.
- Jackson led the team with six block assists.
- The Nanooks hit .240 as a team, notching 68 kills during the contest.
What's Next
The Nanooks return to Fairbanks next Thursday for their home opener when they host the Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic. Their first matchup of the invitational comes against Felician University at 7 p.m. in the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium.
Follow the 'Nooks
IG - @NanooksVB
X - @NanooksVB
FB - Alaska Nanooks Volleyball
