Great hitting leads volleyball to 3-0 sweep over SMU
October 22, 2012
Jamie Foland
474-6807
Freshman outside hitter Sam Harthun turned in the second-best hitting percentage in single-match program history and Alaska, which hit better than .400, downed visiting Saint Martin's in straight sets in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match Saturday afternoon at the Patty Center.
Harthun, who produced a match-high 18 terminations, tallied a pair of service aces and hit .654 (18-1-26) after making only one attack error. That mark was only .013 off the program record, set by Korlyn Bolster (.667) back on Oct. 5, 2006, also against Saint Martin's.
Freshman middle blocker Megan Morrison and junior outside hitter Keri Knight combined for 15 kills with eight and seven, respectively. Morrison hit .333 (8-2-18) while Knight had a .263 (7-2-19) hitting percentage as she also collected a match-high three aces. Freshman setter Katlyn Mataya tallied 33 assists, a match-best, and had nine digs, tying senior libero Allison Oddy for the match high in that category.
Alaska had its best hitting night in nearly three years as it hit for .404 (46-10-89) as a team and committed only 10 attack errors, a season-best. Back on Oct. 31, 2009, the Nanooks hit .407 at Western Oregon. Despite being outblocked 3-0 by SMU, the 'Nooks held the advantage in assists (44-40), digs (35-27) and service aces (8-5). The Saints also hit well with a .322 (41-12-90) hitting clip.
Leading the way for SMU was Krystin Ross, who had a team-best 15 kills while hitting .538 (15-1-26). Katy Ferguson also contributed eight kills with a .278 (8-3-18) attack percentage and Halee Hernandez and Candice Pedroza combined for 36 assists, with 20 and 16, respectively.
Leading 10-8 in the first, Alaska got three in a row with a Harthun kill and ace and a SMU error to go up 13-8. The lead stretched to eight at 18-10 and the visitors never drew closer than five on two occasions late in the frame. The Nanooks went on to take the first 25-19.
The second was close in the early going but with the Nanooks leading 10-9, a Britt Glaeser kill sparked a mini 4-1 run, capped off by two Harthun kills, to give them a 14-10 lead. Later on, up 19-17, Glaeser's kill again sparked a run, this time four straight to give the home team a 23-17 advantage. The 'Nooks took set two 25-20 heading into the locker room.
Alaska stormed out to a 6-1 lead in the third, but SMU chipped away at its deficit. Trailing 14-10, the Saints reeled off five in a row to take its first lead since early in the second set. Teams traded points for the next 10 points and SMU took a 21-19 lead on a Ross termination. Leading 22-20, Harthun's kill and Carrie Starbuck's error knotted the frame at 22 apiece. The Nanooks took a brief lead at 24-23, but Ross kept the Saint alive with a kill. Knight responded with a kill of her own to retake the lead and the match ended at 26-24 when Ferguson committed a ball handling error.
It was the Nanooks' first sweep since Oct. 9, 2010 against Central Washington and ended a three-match losing streak to SMU.
Alaska returns to action one week from today when it takes on rival Alaska Anchorage. First serve is set for 7 p.m. at the Patty Center.