Oct. 21, 2006

Final Stats

FAIRBANKS, AK - The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team handled Seattle University by scores of 30-26, 30-19, 28-30, 30-25 to earn a Great Northwest Conference win in front of 139 fans Saturday afternoon at the Patty Center. An effective Nanook offense was aided by 11 service aces and 10 blocks in the victory, which tied the teams in GNAC play.

Katrina Jensen, a 5-11 senior, took home Toyota Player of the Match honors with 10 kills on a match-high .429 attack percentage. The outside hitter from Federal Way. WA also notched a 1.5 blocks. Freshman Megan Thigpen (Spokane, WA) registered her sixth straight double-double effort with a match-high 14 kills and 12 digs plus four aces and fellow rookie Alexa Sherman (Calabasas, CA) ran the Nanook offense with 41 assists and 20 digs.

The Redhawks were led by outside hitter Nikole Thompson with 12 kills, setter Marisa Vierra match-high 44 assists and Melissa Mulick's match-high 22 digs.

The Nanooks (6-13 overall, 5-7 GNAC) took game one despite being out hit by the Redhawks (14-9, 5-7). Seattle had more kills (17 to 14) and a better attack percentage (.213 to .178) but Alaska was able to overcome it's deficiencies with solid defense and accurate serving. The Nanooks handled the Seattle serve (just one return error) and notched four aces with no service errors.

The second game saw the Nanooks completely dominate the visiting Redhawks. Alaska used 15 kills on a staggering .342 attack percentage to take out Seattle, who only hit .024. Jensen (Federal Way, WA) and Jessica Hill (Colorado Springs, CO) each mustered four kills, while Seattle had just eight total. The Nanooks again had four aces including the game-winner from Sherman.

Seattle would not go quietly and took a close game three. The Redhawk offense woke up and put down 17 kills on a .267 attack percentage including seven kills from Thompson. The Nanooks offense struggled hitting a match-low .149 in the third stanza.

Alaska regained control in the fourth game behind their highest kill total of the night with 17. Starting with Thigpen's kill to make the score 22-19, the Nanooks outscored the Redhawks 7-2. Seattle rattled off three points before two Redhawk errors gave the Nanooks the game and the match.

The Nanooks continue their GNAC schedule with three games on the road. Alaska first faces the GNAC's top team, Seattle Pacific, Oct. 26 and then travels to Ellensburg, WA to match-up with Central Washington University. The Nanooks end their conference road schedule with an Oct. 31 match at Northwest Nazarene on Halloween.