MONMOUTH, Ore.—Surviving back-to-back 28-26 wins in the middle sets, the University of Alaska Fairbanks earned a 3-1 (15-24, 28-26, 28-26, 25-19) road win at Western Oregon University on Thursday.

Western Oregon (6-10, 2-7 GNAC) dominated action in the opener with Mariella Vandenkooy providing with three straight kills to give the Wolves a quick 5-1 edge. The home team continued its red-hot start and continued to double-up the Nanooks for most of the set as the team committed just two attacking errors for a .415 hitting percentage I the first set.

The Wolves continued its effective play late in the second set, but Alaska (9-9, 2-7 GNAC) withstood four set points in the second session to even the match at 1-1.

Moving to the third, WOU once again gained a late lead as a Vandenkooy swing game the Wolves a 19-15 advantage. Once again, the Nanooks staved off the culminating points to force added serves. The Wolves generated three chances at set point in the third, the last occurrence at 25-24 following a kill by setter Leila Holt.

Riley Podowicz provided the Alaska response with consecutive kills while a combo block by Podowicz and Lahra Weber closed out the comeback. Alaska jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the fourth set and never allowed the Wolves to within five points in the finale for the road win.

Vandenkooy led the Wolves with 22 kills while senior Alisha Bettinson tallied 13 terminations. Bettinson, who topped the 1,000-career dig mark last week, eclipsed the same tally in kills during the match to become the first Western Oregon player during its NCAA DII era (since 2000) to record at least 1,000 digs and kills in a career.   

WOU will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 14 when the team hosts the University of Alaska Anchorage. Opening serve is set for 7 p.m. in the New P.E. Building.