Nanooks Volleyball Ends Home Schedule with Emphatic Win

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team has one weekend left in the regular season, but concluded their home schedule against Northwest Nazarene (NNU), Saturday.

The first two sets started slowly for Alaska, falling to the Nighthawks 25-17 each set. With their backs against the walls, they found some fight left in them for the rest of the match.

The Nanooks opened the third on a strong note, building an early, 7-2 lead. Northwest Nazarene managed to tie the score, 8-8. From that point early in the third, the Nanooks and Nighthawks were neck and neck eventually finding the set tied at 22′s. Elizabeth Jackson claimed a 23-22 lead thanks to a kill, and the final two points came on NNU errors.

The Nanooks managed to snag a little momentum on their side, a Nighthawk service error and Ella Bines kill, created the 16-14 separation needed to force a fifth set. Elizabeth Jackson had another late kill to seal the fourth set, 25-21.

“We love these moments… love the pressure that we get to feel right now,” said Coach Brian Scott in the huddle before the fifth set. “Let’s go capitalize. We’ve done that multiple times in set five this year. Let’s do it again.”

The fifth set was a lot like the two prior, close, but still going the way of the Nanooks. Jo Carr and Ella Bines had back-to-back kills, to break a 6-6 tie, and once again, Alaska never relinquished the lead. Alaska and NNU exchanged three point runs, before Jessa Long shocked the entire gymnasium with a diving, back-row attack that nearly hit the ceiling, clearly caught the entire Nighthawk defense off guard.

“I don’t know how I thought this much in that short span of time,” recalled Long. “Honestly it was long enough for me to run under it and send it over.”

Alaska completes the reverse sweep, ending their regular season schedule with a win on senior night. The Nanooks celebrated three seniors on this years roster: Marine Angely, Taylor Overn, and the aforementioned Jessa Long.

Jessa Long is also 22 digs away from breaking the single-season digs record. Long is at 485. The record is 506 set by Jenna Hickel in 2017.

The Nanooks will finish their regular season schedule on the road against Saint Martin’s, Thursday, and Western Oregon, Saturday.

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