Harthun shines but volleyball falls in four at Saint Martin's
September 21, 2012
Jamie Foland
474-6807
Freshman outside hitter Sam Harthun turned in a season-high 18-kill performance but it wasn't enough as Saint Martin's held off Alaska, 3-1, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball on Thursday night at Marcus Pavilion.
The Saints (3-3, 1-0 GNAC) won for the third straight time after taking the match by scores of 26-24, 25-23, 18-25 and 25-22 while the Nanooks (2-7, 0-3 GNAC) fell for the seventh consecutive match.
Harthun led all players with a season-high 18 terminations and hit .293 (18-6-29) to go along with 11 digs and three assisted blocks.
"We put a lot of pressure on her because we weren't passing particularly well," head coach Phil Shoemaker said. "Our outsides really had to carry almost all the load so it was tough on her. Martin's had a big block and she had to do a little bit of growing to learn how to deal with that. She was solid and hung in there. Down the stretch she played well."
Senior outside hitter Reilly Stevens and freshman outside hitter/opposite Ixchelle Oleson also turned in solid numbers with 10 and eight kills, respectively. Senior libero Allison Oddy had a match-best 22 digs while freshman setter Katlyn Mataya tallied 42 assists, also a match high.
SMU was paced by Carrie Starbuck, who made a team-high 12 kills and hit extremely well with a .632 (12-0-19) clip. Kristyn Ross contributed a nice stat line with eight kills, 16 digs and three blocks and Teilissa Tua also posted seven kills 10 digs and a match-high six blocks (two solo).
The Nanooks outhit the Saints .156 (52-29-147) to .087 (38-26-138) but both teams combined for 55 attacking errors. SMU also got 16 free points off Alaska service errors while the hosts only committed eight serves into the net or out of play. SMU controlled the net well by making 13 blocks, to Alaska's six and outscored the 'Nooks 11-6 on aces.
"We out hit them by 80, we out dug them and we out set them but blocks continues to be an issue and we made too many errors in the serve and pass game," Shoemaker said.
Alaska led in the first at 13-12 but a 7-2 surge, capped off by two kills each by Keri Knight and Harthun gave the Nanooks a comfortable 20-14 lead. SMU came right back, however, reeling off seven straight, four by way of Alaska errors, to lead 21-20. With the score tied at 22, a Harthun service error and reception error gave SMU set point but two attack errors by the Saints tied it at 24. Saint Martin's closed the frame 26-24 after a pair of errors by Alaska.
SMU stormed out into the second by taking a 9-1 advantage. Alaska cut the lead away with eight of 10 to trail only 11-9. The Saints got the lead as high as six late at 22-16, but four in a row cut the deficit to three at 23-20. After a Starbuck kill, Alaska had two kills and took advantage of a SMU error to get to within a point, but Ross produced the set-clinching kill to win the frame 25-23.
Set three was all about Alaska as an 11-3 run turned the 6-5 deficit into a 16-9 lead. SMU came back with six of eight points to trail 18-15, but that would be as close as it would get as the Nanooks reeled off five of the next six points. The visitors claimed the third 25-18 to cut the match lead to 2-1.
Alaska kept the momentum into the fourth, taking the lead at 12-6. Saint Martin's had a 5-0 run to get to within a point, but three kills and a pair of SMU errors gave Alaska a 17-13 advantage. The advantage wouldn't last as two errors and two reception errors against the Nanooks gave way to a 7-1 run and SMU took a 20-18 lead. Alaska tied it at 20 with a Harthun kill and a ball handling error by the hosts, but the next four points, all errors by Alaska put SMU on match point at 24-20 and it would go on to clinch the match with a 25-22 fourth-set victory.
Alaska continues its three-match road trip Saturday at 6 p.m. AKDT when it battles Western Oregon. The Wolves swept Alaska Anchorage earlier Thursday.
"Western Oregon is a completely different opponent, a much better opponent," Shoemaker said. "It is the number one blocking team in the league and it is a formidable team. We have to step it up, get a lot tougher mentally and make sure our skills are the best they can be because we're going to have a challenge that's going to be a big one on Saturday."