FAIRBANKS - The Nanooks volleyball team defeated the Western Washington Vikings on Saturday, Sept. 26. With the win, the Nanooks snapped a two-match slide and improved to 11-5, 3-3 GNAC.
The Nanooks posted a strong opening set with a 25-14 first set win. They swung .406 with 15 kills and just two errors while WWU hit .000 with five kills and five errors. The Vikings would settle in, though, coming back to claim the second. Both sides hit well but 17 kills and two errors bested the Nanooks' 17 kills and five errors. Alaska bounced back, however, and won the third and fourth 25-22 in both. In the first set, the 'Nooks jumped ahead 10-5 behind a pair of
Peri Hoshock aces. They raced out to a 17-9 lead using five-straight points after WWU pulled within three. The Vikings crawled back but the Nanooks put it well out of reach with another five-point stretch before winning the opener 25-14.
The second set saw a similar jump for Alaska as they ran ahead 5-3. The two sides traded runs and down the stretch, WWU took a 20-19 lead before extending it to 24-20.
Presley Engelauf snapped the Vikings' run with a kill, but the Vikings picked up the next point to tie the match at 1-1.
Alaska opened up the third set with a huge run, going up 10-1. The Vikings, however, made a run to cut the Nanooks' lead to three at 11-8. The Vikings then rallied all the way back to take a two-point lead at 19-21. Hoshock pulled the Nanooks within one on a kill and then Alaska scored five-straight to spring back for the set three win. They finished the set with three consecutive points won on blocks before
Cynphany Henderson won the set with a kill. The fourth set was toe-to-toe for much of the set. WWU held a two-point lead at 17-19 but four-straight points from the Nanooks made it 21-19. They then held a 23-22 lead before
Lucy Braegger ended the match with back-to-back kills for the win.
Inside the Numbers
- The Nanooks outhit the Vikings .269 to .172 with 63 kills to Western's 49. Haylee Lyons led the way with 18 kills. She had a double-double, adding 16 digs with two assists and one ace.
- Cori Leavitt had 14 kills, six digs, four blocks, and an ace.
- Lucy Braegger and Peri Hoshock joined Lyons and Leavitt with double-digit kills. Both posted 11 kills in the win. Braegger added two blocks and two digs.
- Peri Hoshock led the 'Nooks with six blocks, and had eight digs, two aces, and two assists.
- Kellan Flynn posted 28 digs to lead the way. Tessa Onaga had 12 in the win.
- Cynphany Henderson also had a double-double with 44 assists and 11 digs. She added five kills and three blocks.
- Alaska outblocked WWU 9-2. They also had the advantage in aces, 8-4, assists, 58-46, and digs, 91-90.
What's Next
Next week is the Nanooks Pack the Patty: 1k Strong game against Alaska Anchorage. First serve is at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1 at the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium at the Patty Center. Come out and where white for our whiteout as we look to fill the Alaska Airlines Gymnasium with more than 1000 fans!
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