Volleyball | 11/10/2011 9:17:00 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Danielle Reese nailed down 16 kills and the Western Oregon volleyball team held their fourth straight opponent to under a .083 hitting percentage to capture a three-set victory over Alaska Fairbanks 25-17, 25-23 and 25-10 on Thursday, Nov. 10.

The win was the Wolves' fifth in their last six matches as they improved to 13-8 on the season and to 12-5 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The loss drops the Nanooks to 2-23 and 2-15 in conference.

Reese, who was returning from an ankle sprain, registered a season-best .429 hitting percentage in the match with those 16 kills and just one error in 35 attempts. The Wolves also welcomed back LesLyne Satele who dished out 33 assists in the three sets.

"It was timely having LesLyne and Dani back because Saturday's match is huge for both teams," said Western Oregon head coach Brad Saindon. "We would like to go out with a bang and not a whimper.

"Dani had 16 kills in the match and having four kills in a set is just great," Saindon explained. "She had two sets with six kills, so it doesn't look like she missed a beat. It was just great having them back."

In the match Western Oregon posted a .271 hitting percentage while holding UAF to a .083 mark. The Wolves also posted 7.5 blocks compared to 2.0 for the Nanooks.

The Wolves opened match by hitting .303 percent and captured the set thanks to a 7-1 run. In the second the Nanooks battled hard and the set was tied at 23-23 before Saindon took a timeout and the women rallied with two straight points to take a two set lead into the break. In the third set the Wolves played determined as they scored 21 of the final 27 points to sweep the match.

This sets up a big match on Saturday (Nov. 12) against Alaska Anchorage who is currently tied for first in the GNAC with a 14-3 conference record.

"It is a very interesting match coming up against Anchorage," continued Saindon. "It it probably a bigger match for Anchorage because if they win they are the conference champions and they get the automatic qualifier. If we beat them they  aren't the conference champions and they might not go to the playoffs. The pressure is really all on them and we would love to be the spoiler."