BURNABY, B.C. -- For the second straight match to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, the Simon Fraser volleyball team went the distance.

After dropping its contest against Western Washington Saturday, No. 22-ranked SFU rebounded tonight in Nampa, Idaho, with a win over Northwest Nazarene by set scores of 17-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-27 and 15-8.

Rookie right-side hitter Brooke Dexter was once again outstanding for SFU (7-2, 1-1 GNAC). She recorded 18 kills and a .444 hitting percentage. Kalyn Hartmann and Hanna Kolof each contributed 11 kills. In her university debut, redshirt freshman setter Serena Gentile provided 43 assists, 10 digs and three service aces. Bianca Te had a team-best 15 digs, while Kalissa Beltran had four aces.

Natalie Sullivan was the focus of the NNU offence, scoring 29 kills, while no other Nighthawks player had more than seven.

After dropping a close fourth set, SFU responded with a sizzling start in the deciding game, jumping ahead 9-3. Farnaaz Johal started the proceedings with a solo block. A Dexter ace made it 3-2 for SFU, followed later by back-to-back kills from Kolof and Camryn Vosloh to put their team up 6-3. On the next point, Gentile and Hartmann combined on a block before a pair of hitting errors from NNU finished the run.

SFU did not allow the Nighthawks to build any momentum the rest of the way as the hosts did not string together more than two points in a row. Dexter clinched the match with her 18th kill of the night.

The fourth set saw SFU rally from a 17-12 deficit to tie the score at 18-all. The surge included two aces from Beltran, one from Kyra Anderson and a Hartmann kill. The back-and-forth action continued as NNU took the next two points. Then the Canadian side tied it up at 20-20 on a Gentile ace. NNU saved a set point at 24-23, then captured three of the next four to win 27-25.
 

Three aces and three Vosloh kills helped spark SFU to a 15-6 advantage to start the third set. While the Nighthawks closed the gap a bit, SFU was able to finish the set off comfortably. On the final point, Dexter and Hartmann teamed up for a block on Natalie Sullivan.

The two squads evenly split the first 26 points of set 2. Then SFU took control by earning the next five, including two on Dexter kills, to go ahead 18-13. A late 4-0 rally by NNU closed its deficit to just two points at 22-20. But on its first set point at 24-21, SFU converted to level the match.

The hosts had a strong start Thursday, taking an 11-6 lead. A combination Johal-Dexter block got SFU to within two points, but that was as close as the visiting side got.

As a team, SFU had a hitting percentage of .238 with 21 errors while NNU had 32 errors en route to a .140 hitting percentage.

SFU will conclude its opening weekend of GNAC play with a Saturday match at Central Washington. The first serve is scheduled for 12 noon in Ellensburg, Wash.

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