Box Score

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Alaska's Sam Harthun proved unstoppable, and her performance Thursday night not only shattered a Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-time record, but snapped the Crusaders' 10-match win streak.

Harthun hammered out 40 kills, breaking the GNAC record of 34 kills in a match, and nearly accounted for half of the Nanooks kills in a 26-24, 27-25, 18-25, 20-25, 16-14 upset of the Northwest Nazarene volleyball team.

"We are as disappointed as you can be after this result," said NNU head volleyball coach Doug English. "It came down to the Alaska's girls making some plays at the end of games and us either not getting a kill or coming up with a something special.

"Sam Harthun had a special night for Alaska, and when someone does that you have to congratulate them," NNU's coach added.

Harthun's 38^th kill of the night put Alaska on top in the fifth and final set, as the Nanooks thwarted a valiant comeback effort by the Crusaders (15-8 overall, 12-3 GNAC), who rallied from down two sets to none.

NNU came out strong, taking a 7-3 lead on an Elayna Rice kill in the first set and eventually held a set point, up 24-23 after another kill by Rice.

Alaska rallied to win the opener, though, and fended off the Crusaders to take the second set, as well.

Backed against the wall, NNU came out strong in the third set to swing the match's momentum back into the Crusaders favor.

A tandem block by Madi Farrell and Hailey Cook put NNU on top 9-3, and Jacquelyn Johnson added a service ace in a 9-2 surge that put the Crusaders in front 15-5, and well on their way to getting back into the match.

In the fourth set, NNU rallied out of an early 11-9 hole as Linnea Phillips and Shayli Siegfreid each served up an ace and Jenna Caywood added a kill in a 10-3 Crusader charge that helped the visitors even the match.

NNU looked poised to completely the comeback, grabbing a 7-3 lead in the fifth set on a Farrell and Rice team block, but Harthun kept swinging away for the Nanooks as her 38^th kill of her record night put Alaska (5-17, 5-10) on top 11-10 en route to the upset.

"We have a team made up of hard workers and a lot of character," English said. "We will respond to this as we have responded to the rest of our losses this year: Get to work in the gym and be ready for our next match."

Rice led the Crusaders with 14 kills and 14 digs, while Farrell added 11 kills and seven blocks, and Kendra Bodine had eight kills and 14 digs in the setback.

Linnea Phillips added in 11 digs and Cook had 40 assists and 12 digs for the Crusaders, who continue their final road-trip of the regular season by playing at No. 11 Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night.