FAIRBANKS - The Nanooks volleyball team dropped their first GNAC match on Saturday to Seattle Pacific. The loss drops the Nanooks to 9-3, 1-1 GNAC.
Seattle Pacific took sets one, three, and five while the Nanooks won the second and the fourth. In the first, SPU won 22-25. Both sides posted 10 kills and six errors. SPU scored the first five points, taking a 0-5 lead. The Nanooks responded with a run and eventually pulled within two before rallying back to take an 11-10 lead. The two sides traded runs before SPU went up by four at 15-19. Alaska managed to pull within one on three separate occasions down the stretch but SPU ended the first with back-to-back kills. In the second, SPU, once again, opened up with an early lead, but Alaska responded well. After trailing by seven, Alaska stormed back to close the gap to two before tying it at 13-13 on an
Emma Freeman kill. The Nanooks then took six of seven points to take a 22-18 lead.
Presley Engelauf ended the second with a kill to make it 25-21 Nanooks and tie the match at 1-1.
The third went to SPU behind 16 kills and just three errors (.394). Alaska posted strong numbers as well, hitting .280 with 11 kills and four errors, but an eight-point deficit at 16-8 was too much to come back from. In the fourth, Alaska rallied again, using their own early start to take a 6-2 advantage. They withstood a push from SPU and pushed ahead 19-15 on another Engelauf kill. After a 21-21 tie, the 'Nooks pushed four-straight on SPU behind three Falcons' errors and a
Haylee Lyons kill, forcing a fifth set. In the fifth, SPU jumped ahead early before Alaska came back pull within one. After back-and-forth points, SPU jumped ahead by four, and eventually extended it to five. Alaska used three-straight points to pull within one at 13-14, but an SPU kill ended the comeback attempt and gave them the 2-3 victory in Fairbanks.
Inside the Numbers
- Alaska outhit SPU .142 to .132 but the Falcons posted one more block than the Nanooks and doubled up the 'Nooks in service aces, 7-14.
- Cori Leavitt led the Nanooks with 13 kills while Presley Engelauf and Haylee Lyons both followed with 10. Leavitt added three blocks and two digs.
- Engelauf also had three blocks and three digs while Lyons finished with a double-double, posting 12 digs an ace and a block.
- Kellan Flynn led the Nanooks with 23 digs. She was one of four Nanooks with double-digit digs. Tessa Onaga had 19 alongside seven assists. Cynphany Henderson had a double-double with Lyons, posting 29 assists and 15 digs.
- Ashlyn White had 17 assists and seven digs.
What's Next
The Nanooks hit the road next week and will face Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho on Sept. 17 and then head to Ellensburg, Wash. for a matchup with nationally-ranked Central Washington. Both matches can be watched on the GNAC Network.
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