FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Sophomore Alisha Bettinson and junior Paige Kelsey each had eight kills, but Western Oregon could not bounce back after a close opening set loss in ultimately falling in three sets at Alaska on Thursday. Set scores were 25-27, 25-19, 25-20.
 
The Wolves fall to 7-20 overall and 5-14 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, while the Nanooks improve to 6-20 and 6-13 in league action.
 
Junior Christie Colasurdo notched a match-high 23 digs while Sheila Limas De La Cruz followed with eight digs. Freshmen setters Maddie Mehciz and Leila Holt split action during the match – Mehciz tallied 19 assists and Holt added seven helpers.
 
The Wolves had an early 3-1 lead in the opening set on a Nanook serving error and a pair of kills by Kelsey, but Alaska would string points together later in the set to lead 21-19. The Wolves retook the lead and got to game point after three Bettinson kills and consecutive attack errors from Alaska. The Nanooks rallied with three points to swing a pair of game points before a kill from GNAC career leader Sam Harthun closed out the set that saw 17 tied scores and 10 lead changes.
 
The second set featured an early 10-4 Alaska spurt that the shifted momentum to the home club. WOU closed the advantage to two points on three different occasions with a Holt ace and two Kelsey kills. Alaska ran off four straight points and extended the lead out to seven points before Harthun once again took the honors with a game-winning kill.
 
The Wolves once again saw the Nanooks sprint out to a 6-2 lead that ballooned to 15-10. Western Oregon scored four straight points on Alaska errors, but three Nanook points bumped the lead back up to four. That was enough of a cushion to close out the match in straight sets after a pair of WOU errors gave Alaska their 24^th and 25^th points.
 
Western Oregon was outhit on the night .263-.172 as Alaska had 46 team kills compared to the Wolves' 26. Harthun had a match-high 16 kills for the Nanooks and Maddie Davis had 13 kills.
 
The Wolves close out the 2015 season on Saturday against the NCAA West Region's top ranked Seawolves of Alaska Anchorage at 7 p.m. Alaskan Time at the Alaska Airlines Center.