Volleyball wins gritty match against alumni, 2-1

August 28, 2013

University Relations

Chris Brooks
907-474-6805

It took all three scheduled sets to determine a winner Saturday afternoon, but the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team was able to grind out a three-set victory at the Patty Center over the Nanooks of the past, winning 2-1 (25-16, 16-25, 25-15) in their annual alumni match.

Sophomore outside hitter Sam Harthun (Oregon City, Ore./art) posted a double-double with 15 kills and 12 digs, and a strong .303 team hitting percentage in the final set helped close out the win. Freshman setter Katelyn Camp (Newton, Iowa/general studies) had 29 assists to help the Nanooks hit .212 for the match, and senior outside hitter Keri Knight (Arvada, Colo./business administration) contributed nine kills and four digs.

The first set was tied at 6-6 before Alaska went on a 10-2 run to grab a 16-8 lead. Harthun had three of her 15 kills and freshman middle blocker Cassidy Brewer (East Wenatchee, Wash./business administration) notched back-to-back kills during the run. The Nanooks would clinch the set at 25-16 with consecutive points on a kill from Knight and an attack error by the alumni.

The second set saw the alumni wake up and hit at a .308 clip with only two errors. The set was tied on seven separate occasions before the alumni ran off five straight points to take an 18-13 advantage en route to a 12-3 run to close out the 25-16 set victory.

The third set belonged completely to the Nanooks. Alaska scored eight straight points to open the set thanks to five errors by the Alumni, two Harthun kills and a service ace from junior libero Tessa Butterfield (Grass Valley, Calif./justice). The Nanooks pushed their lead to 10 at 12-2, led by as many as 12 and never let the Alumni get closer than eight points before eventually winning 25-15.

Alaska heads to the islands of Hawaii next week to open its regular season on the road Thursday against Hawai'i-Hilo, part of a four-game road trip to Hawai'i that will also include games against No. 5-ranked BYU Hawaii, Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific.