FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The St. Edward's volleyball team returns home as winners of the 2014 Flint Hills Resources Nanook Classic. In its final match versus Alaska-Fairbanks on Saturday afternoon, the Hilltoppers defeated the Nanooks, 3-1, bringing their tournament record to a perfect 2-0. The first matchup with Alaska-Fairbanks on Thursday was not part of the tournament.
 
St. Edward's (3-0) took the first set 25-13. The Hilltoppers ran away with the set thanks to an early jump on the Nanooks.
 
Alaska-Fairbanks (0-3) surged back winning the second set 28-26. The Hilltoppers saw their largest lead (five points) early on pushing the score to 9-4. The home team did not waver, but instead fought hard to gridlock the game at 12-12. The two teams traded the lead a total of 12 times in the set, most of which came in late exchanges. Madison McClurg had a kill to even the score 26-26, but Alaska-Fairbanks answered with a kill of their own and a service ace to win the set.
 
The third (25-15) and fourth (25-16) sets played out much like the first with the Hilltoppers controlling the pace. In the final two sets, St. Edward's did not give up the lead a single time.
 
Koehler was one block shy of a double-double, but still led the team to a victory with 13 kills and nine digs. Hannah Rauch followed closely with 12 kills of her own. Kelly Jimenez put in a strong defensive effort recording 23 digs.
 
Lauren Kelly, Koehler, Elissa Stanton and Rauch were named to the All-Tournament team with Rauch also being named MVP of the tournament.
 
The Hilltoppers continue their season playing their first home game versus Texas A&M-International (0-2) on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Live video and stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.