HILO, Hi. - The Alaska Nanooks earned a 3-0 sweep over the Hawaii Pacific Sharks on Thursday, Aug. 20. Alaska won 25-16, 28-26, 25-14 and moves to 1-0 after day one of the 2026 campaign.
Alaska committed just two errors in the first set, hitting .483 to go along 16 kills. The first was HPU's most efficient set of the night as the Sharks hit .143 with nine kills and five errors. After opening the match back-and-forth, the Nanooks jumped out to an 8-5 lead behind a
Cynphany Henderson ace. Following an HPU answer, Alaska posted three-straight, extending their lead to 15-9 behind back-to-back kills from setter
Ashlyn White. With a four-point lead at 18-14, Alaska ran off seven of the final nine points to win the opener 25-16.
The second set was close the whole way through. The Nanooks outhit HPU 17-13 in kills and .224 to .130 in hitting percentage, but timely runs by the Sharks gave them a look at evening the set score late. HPU jumped out to a 7-4 advantage but Alaska answered with four-straight on three
Haylee Lyons' serves to regain the lead. The Nanooks' lead grew to 18-13 with eight of 10 points going Alaska's way, including five-straight. Despite the advantage, HPU responded, once again, scoring six of seven points to tie the set at 21-21. The Nanooks had the first look at set-point at 24-23, but back-to-back HPU kills gave the Sharks a look at tying the match.
Cori Leavitt answered for Alaska and
McKenna Smith served up an ace to make it 26-25. After an error, the Nanooks closed the second with another Leavitt kill and a solo block by
Presley Engelauf.
The Nanooks made quick work of the Sharks in the third set. They ran out to a 13-4 lead out of the gates. Even a small HPU run wasn't enough as Alaska doubled them up at 16-8. Soon the lead reached 22-13 and all of the momentum was with Alaska. The Sharks posted a service error, a bad set, and got aced by
Tessa Onaga in the final three points; Alaska won the third 25-14 to complete the sweep.
Inside the Numbers
- The Nanooks hit .308 as a team in their season opener. They swung over .300 just once last season in a three-set win over Cal State San Marcos (9/4/25).
- Alaska finished with 44 kills and were led by Haylee Lyons who finished the match with nine. Kelli Wright added eight and Presley Engelauf had seven.
- Haylee Lyons also added four aces tonight, along with eight digs.
- Tessa Onaga led the way with a match-high 17 digs. She was the only player with double-digit digs tonight. Cynphany Henderson led the way with 23 assists. Ashlyn White added 15.
- Alaska had seven total blocks tonight. Engelauf and Leavitt both finished with four. Peri Hoshock followed with three.
- HPU recorded just one total block tonight. The Nanooks had 41 total assists, 55 digs, eight aces and 59 points.
What's Next
The Nanooks play two matches tomorrow. They face Chaminade at 2 p.m. AKST and Hawaii Hilo at 8 p.m. AKST.
Follow the 'Nooks
IG - @NanooksVB
X - @NanooksVB
FB - Alaska Nanooks Volleyball
