ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Despite storming back to steal the third set, the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team fell 3-1 to in-state rival the University of Alaska Anchorage in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match at the Alaska Airlines Center on Tuesday night. The Nooks fell 17-25, 16-25, 25-18 and 19-25 to the Seawolves, dropping Alaska's overall record to 2-8 and 0-3 in conference contests while UAA improves to 8-2 overall and 2-1 in league play.

"Tonight, we lost the serve-receive battle," head coach Brian Scott said on Tuesday. "To UAA's credit, they did a great job giving us some tough serves to handle and limiting our offense. The third set was a bright spot for us offensively and I really believe we are very difficult to stop when we pass well and stay within our system. Defensively, we needed to be a bit more disciplined and making good reads on their attackers."

In a battle of a first set, the Nooks made 13 kills with only five errors off of 42 total attempts for a team hitting percentage of .190 and went 12-for-25 for a sideout percentage of 47. Unfortunately for the Nooks, the Seawolves posted a hitting percentage of .351 in the first set (14 kills, one error off of 37 attempts) and a sideout percentage of 70 (12-for-17).

Alaska only tallied nine kills in the second set to UAA's 16, while posting another percentage of 70 (12-for-17).

Alaska's best set came in the second, as the Nooks registered 14 kills and five errors off of 38 total attempts for a team hitting percentage of .237. Alaska also tallied a sideout percentage of 68, going 13-for-19. On the other side of the court, UAA only had a hitting percentage of .100 and a sideout percentage of 50, going 12-for-24.

The fourth set proved to be the difference maker, as the Seawolves combined for 16 kills and six errors for a hitting percentage of .278 while the Nooks only collected nine kills and five errors for a team hitting percentage of .121. Both teams struggled in sideouts, with Nooks going 8-for-24 (33 percent) and the Seawolves going 9-for-20 (44 percent).

Redshirt-sophomore outside hitter Tatum Upchurch posted a team-best 15 kills in front of her hometown crowd on Tuesday night. Upchurch also collected her fifth double-double of the season against the Seawolves, picking up 13 digs. The Anchorage also chipped in one assist for a team-high 15.0 points.

Sophomore outside hitter Lahra Weber also picked up her fifth double-double of the season, contributing 14 digs and 12 kills. Weber also tallied two block assists and one ace for 14.0 points.

Junior right side Mica Shanglan posted a perfect night offensively with four kills and zero errors off of eight attempts for a hitting percentage of .500. Defensively, Shenglan was one of four Nooks who posted double-digit digs against the Seawolves, contributing 11 on the night.

Sophomore setter Cate Whiting posted the game-high in assists with 37, while also chipping in three kills, eight digs and one block assist.

Freshman libero Makena Overbey led the Nooks in digs, registering 16 in her first game against UAA.

UAA was led offensively by Eve Stephens, who tied UAA's program record in highest kills with zero errors, as Stephens tallied a game-high 21 kills and zero errors off of 32 total attempts for a game-high hitting percentage of .656. Defensively, UAA's Anjoilyn Vreeland led all players on the court in digs with 26.

The Alaska Nanooks volleyball team returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 15, as the Nooks head to Billings, Montana to take on the MSUB Yellowjackets in GNAC action at 5pm AKT.

For more information on the Alaska Nanooks volleyball team, follow @NanooksVB on Twitter or like the Alaska Nanooks Volleyball team page on Facebook.