FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Some nights, an edge on the volleyball stat sheet doesn't translate into an edge on the scoreboard.
 
Thursday was one of those nights for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
SPU had seven more kills, five more digs, and one more block in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at Alaska Fairbanks. But the Nanooks still pulled out a 3-1 victory inside The Patty Center.
 
Scores were 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-23.
 
That snapped a six-match winning streak for SPU (6-4, 2-1 GNAC) while simultaneously giving Fairbanks (10-5, 3-0 GNAC) its sixth consecutive victory.
 
 

Sophomore middle blocker Hannah Hair hammered 13 kills for the Falcons, and senior outside hitter Maddie Batiste added 10. Sophomore outside / middle Allison Wilks came with a career-high eight total blocks, including one solo.
 
As a team, the Falcons put more balls on the floor (55 kills to 48), kept more off the floor (70 digs to 65), and scored 12 points off the block to UAF's 11.
 
It wasn't quite enough.
 
"We just couldn't really get into a rhythm – we were a step behind," head coach Abbie Wright said. "The (the Nanooks) just find a way to make stuff happen. They're good out of the box, and they capitalize on opportunities. We struggled a little bit on serve receive tonight, and they capitalized on that." (UAF had nine aces to SPU's two.)
 
OFF TO A GOOD START, BUT THEN …
After 13 ties and four led changes left the opening set knotted at 18-18, the Falcons finished it off with a 7-2 scoring run. That included the final three points of the set on kills by Hair, Batiste, and sophomore middle blocker Erin Smith.
 
Seattle Pacific then had the advantage for most of the second set, including 17-14. That's when Alaska Fairbanks began a 5-0 surge for a 19-17 lead. The Falcons went back up 20-19, then saw the Nanooks score six of the final seven points to level the match at one set apiece.
 
Except for the opening point, Fairbanks was ahead all the way in Set 3. SPU had brief early leads in Set 4. But after the Nanooks turned an 8-6 deficit into a 10-8 lead (helped along by two of their nine aces), they stayed in front the rest of the way except for ties at 10-10 and 16-16.
 
"It was just stringing two or three or four plays together," Wright said. "We were kind of swimming upstream the whole match."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Hannah Hair's 13 kills came on a .393 hitting percentage, as she had just two errors on 28 attacks. Allison Wilks had seven kills with just one error on 16 attacks for a .375 percentage. That gave the two middle blockers a combined 20 kills and a .386 hitting percentage.
-- With her eight blocks on Thursday, Wilks surpassed her previous career high of five, which she reached twice.
 

-- Junior opposite Ashley Antoniak got some extensive playing time and made the best of it with five kills, .267 hitting, two blocks, and 12 digs. "I thought Ashley came in and did a great job," coach Abbie Wright said. "She brought a sense of calm to the court."
-- Freshman setter Emily Tulino recorded her second career double-double, this one with 35 assists and a career high-tying 12 digs.
-- Sophomore opposite Sydney Perry had nine kills, giving her exactly 100 for her career.
--Thursday was the first time this season an opponent has bounced back from a first-set loss to beat the Falcons. In winning six straight, SPU had taken the opening set every time.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons visit Alaska Anchorage on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Pacific time. The Seawolves swept Montana State Billings on Thursday, 25-20, 25-20, 25-14. "They're a good serving team that can get their offense going," Wright said. "It's going to be who can find their key hitters at the right time."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
 
Alaska Fairbanks 3, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Game scores – 20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-23.
 
Service aces – SPU 1 (Lambert 1), UAF 9 (Schilling 4).
Kills – SPU 55 (Hair 13, Batiste 10), UAF 48 (White 15).
Assists – SPU 54 (Tulino 35, Lambert 16), UAF 43 (Whiting 39).
Digs – SPU 70 (Cunningham 15, Antoniak 12, Tulino 12), UAF 65 (Whiting 20).
Block assists / solo – SPU 20 / 2 solo (Wilks 7 / 1 solo), UAF 20 / 1 solo (Moorhead 8 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 55-25-156—192 (Hair 13-2-28—393), UAF 48-25-255—148 (White 15-2-36—361).
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 6-4, 2-1 GNAC.  Alaska Fairbanks 10-5, 3-0 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, 3:00 p.m.
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska