BURNABY– Simon Fraser snapped Alaska's seven game win streak with a 3-1 win over the visitors in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match Thursday evening before 310 fans in the West Gym.
 
SFU won the match 25-19, 31-29, 16-25 and 25-19 on a night where SFU student-athletes, coaches and staff wore orange shirts in warmups and courtside to acknowledge the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
 
SFU pulled out the four-set win over the Nanooks to improve to 8-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play. Alaska is now 11-6, 4-1 GNAC.
 
SFU had a 62-49 advantage in kills and connected at a higher attack percent .210 to .175.
 
"We were very disciplined, especially on serve receive, which gave us a lot of options offensively and allowed our hitters to execute," said head coach Gina Schmidt. "Our passers did a good job of moving the ball around with speed and that opened up some shots. Our attackers found the gaps in the blocks and defense."
 
Three players reached double figures in kills with Brooke Dexter (20), Camryn Vosloh (14), and Kalyn Hartmann (11) leading the way and senior captain Julia Tays setting up 52 kills.
 
Dexter had 53 attempts but each player had their moments when SFU needed them to rise up. Hartmann had several step-behind-the-setter kills and hit at an efficient .304 percent.
 
Simon Fraser was able to outlast a late-run by the Nanooks in the first set and leverage a .312 hitting percentage into a 25-19 win. Set two was closer with multiple set points before SFU sealed the 31-29 win with back-to-back kills by Vosloh and Hartmann.
 
"Set two was hard-fought and influential," said Schmidt. "Winning the set was an energy boost for sure but then we let up a little bit and came out flat for the third. But the set certainly gave us confidence in our systems"
 
The third set was all Alaska.
 
Set four saw SFU take 6-1 and 11-4 leads before Alaska closed the margin to 14-12. A 7-0 run for SFU pushed the lead out to 21-12. Alaska pulled to within 22-19 but SFU scored the final three points.
 
SFU plays Saturday in the West Gym against Alaska Anchorage, who had their Thursday evening game against Western Washington postponed. Game time is 7PM.