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16th-ranked NNU dispatches Nanooks in four sets, ready for first-place battle

| By: Mike Stetson, Sports Information Director
Box Score

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – With their biggest battle of the season looming dead ahead, the Crusaders didn't lose focus on the task currently at hand.

The 16th-ranked Northwest Nazarene volleyball team shook off a first-set rally by host Alaska and dispatched the Nanooks, 26-28, 25-18, 25-17, 25-17 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Thursday night.

The win sets up a clash for the GNAC lead at Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night, as both teams enter the first-place battle with identical 11-1 league records. NNU beat the Seawolves in four sets in Nampa, Idaho back on Sept. 25.

But before the Crusaders (18-2 overall, 11-1 GNAC) could think about UAA, they needed to take care of business in Fairbanks, and things started out a bit rough as the Nanooks (2-18, 2-10) shook off three set points for NNU in the opener to take the first set.

"We came out to a Fairbank team that was fired up to play and they played one of their best sets of the year," NNU head volleyball coach Doug English said of the opening-set setback.

NNU responded by dominating the second set to even the match, stretching an 11-9 lead with an 8-3 surge sparked by a kill each from Taylor VanValey, Madi Farrell and Michelle Terpstra, and helped along by five UAF hitting errors.

After evening the match, the Crusaders took full control in the third set, snapping a 7-7 score with a 7-2 surge ignited by a VanValey kill followed by a Farrell and VanValey tandem block.

Elayna Rice added a pair of kills in the run for NNU, a charge capped by an Andi Terpstra kill that made it 14-9, and the Crusaders never looked back.

"We picked up our defense and really played well offensively all night," English said of NNU's comeback in the match.

That domination stretched right into the start of the fourth and final set as Rice and Andi Terpstra each had two kills in a 7-1 NNU start.

A VanValey kill pushed the advantage to 13-4 as Crusaders cruised to the win to close out the match.

Rice led the way with 16 kills and 10 digs for NNU, while Michelle Terpstra added 49 assists and 17 digs and Andrea Terpstra had 12 kills.

"Elayna, Andi and Madi (8 kills) had really good matches attacking," English said.

VanValey added 10 kills, Taylor Roberts recorded 18 digs and Linnea Phillips had 11 digs for NNU, which matched its highest single-season win total since beginning NCAA Division II play in 2000. 

 
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