Box Score ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Northwest Nazarene University volleyball team dropped just its second match of the season Saturday, falling 19-25, 25-14, 12-25, 25-23, 15-9 to Alaska Anchorage in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

NNU (20-2, 12-2 GNAC) led 2-1 after three sets and held an early 5-3 advantage in the decisive fifth set, but couldn't hang on against the third-place Seawolves (16-7, 11-3).

"UAA played great and it is always tough to win on the road," NNU coach Doug English said. "We competed hard and they were a little better serving and passing tonight."

The loss drops NNU into second place in the GNAC behind one-loss Western Washington.

Kendra Bodine led the Nighthawks offensively, finishing with 17 kills, while Madi Farrell added 15, Mari Thomas had 13 and Cami Heninger 12. Bodine and Shayli Siegfreid each had 24 digs, while Hailey Cook added 11 and 55 assists.

Leah Swiss had a season-high 25 kills to lead Anchorage, as the tall left-hander consistently found seams in the NNU defense.

"We knew we had to stop their outsides and in the sets we won, we did," English said. "In the sets we lost, Swiss and (Chrisalyn) Johnson played great."

After splitting the first two sets, the Nighthawks jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the third set and cruised to an easy victory. They led throughout the fourth set, but just couldn't hang on.
NNU earned a split on the rugged Alaska road trip after knocking off Alaska on Thursday night.

The Nighthawks return home to face Saint Martin's at 7 p.m. Thursday and Seattle Pacific at 7 p.m. Saturday.