Volleyball falls 3-1 in exciting match to Western Oregon
October 19, 2012
Jamie Foland
474-6807
Samantha Ward and Danielle Reese combined for 38 kills and Western Oregon defeated Alaska 3-1 in an exciting Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match on Thursday at the Patty Center.
The Wolves improved to 13-5 on the year and 6-4 in conference play while the Nanooks fell for third time in a row and dropped to 3-13 overall and 1-9 in the GNAC.
Ward finished with a match-high 21 kills after hitting .487 (21-2-39) to lead all hitters. She also produced 10 digs, two aces and two block assists while Reese tallied 17 terminations to go with 12 digs. Other key contributors included LesLyne Satele and Jordin Ramos, who combined for 51 assists and Megan Triggs, who had 22 digs.
Alaska was paced by freshman outside hitter Sam Harthun, who had a team-high 18 kills to go with a .286 (18-4-49) hitting clip and 14 digs. Junior outside hitter Keri Knight had 15 kills and two service aces and freshman setter Katlyn Mataya dished out 44 assists while senior libero Allison Oddy notched a match-high 25 digs.
WOU controlled the block 7.5 (15 block assists) to Alaska's one but Alaska outscored Western Oregon 7-6 on service aces. Both teams hit well with the Wolves holding a .309 hitting percentage while the Nanooks hit for .262 on the night.
Alaska never trailed in the first set on its way to victory in the frame. The Nanooks opened the match with an 8-3 run to force the Wolves into a timeout. WOU got the deficit back to three at 9-6 but six of the next nine went to the 'Nooks to give them a 15-9 advantage. Leading 17-14, Alaska scored four of five to lead 21-15 and despite WOU's efforts late, Alaska took the first 25-20.
Set two saw 17 ties and five lead changes as it took extra points to decide it. Alaska led for the most part, but leading 19-17 late, a Reese kill and Alaska error knotted it at 19. The Nanooks went back and forth and took the lead at 23-22 but a Reese kill and Bleese kill gave WOU set point. Harthun kept the set alive with a kill but after a bad Mataya set, Reese closed the set 26-24 with a kill.
The third was much like the second and also went past the 25-point mark to determine a winner. Twenty ties and eight lead changes occurred in the frame. With the set tied at 16, three errors gave way for a 4-0 Western Oregon run to give it a 20-16 lead. The Nanooks quickly regrouped and trimmed the deficit to one at 20-19. Eventually the 'Nooks came back to tie it at 24. With it squared at 27 apiece, Ward produced a kill and ace to win it 29-27 to take the match lead, 2-1.
In the fourth with the set tied at 5-5, the Wolves surged to the lead at 10-6 after going on a 5-1 run with three kills and an ace. The Nanooks never really cut into the Western lead and the Wolves were able to take the fourth and the match by the count of 25-20.
The Nanooks return to action Saturday with a noon matinee against Saint Martin's, which fell 3-1 at UAA earlier Thursday.