BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Led by a pair of monster performances from All-American outside hitter Gabby Gunterman and Calley Heilborn, the No. 20 nationally-ranked Western Washington University volleyball team defeated Alaska Fairbanks in five sets Saturday evening on WECU Court in Carver Gym.
 
WWU improved to 7-4 overall and 3-1 in GNAC play with the 25-13, 20-25, 25-23, 23-25, 15-13 win over the Nanooks in front of a vocal crowd of 647 fans in the Vikings first home match in over a month. UAF, who was listed as receiving votes in this week's national coaches poll, dropped to 11-7 overall and 4-2 in GNAC play.
 
"This was a big win over a really good team. I am very proud of how we stayed strong and improved throughout the match," said WWU head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "We had some big-time performances from Gabby (Gunterman) and Calley (Heilborn), and did a great job with the 19 blocks against a good team."
 
Gunterman tallied a career-high 20 kills to go with 20 digs for the double-double on a .240 hitting percentage. Heilborn added a 19-kill, 27-dig double-double and recorded six blocks.
 
Overall the Vikings recorded 19.0 team blocks, fourth-most during the 24-season NCAA era (since 1998), led by nine blocks from junior middle Olivia Fairchild and eight blocks by junior middle Chloe Roetcisoender.
 
Freshman setter Adele Holland made her collegiate debut with a 48-assist, 14-dig double-double, stepping into the starting role with sophomore All-American setter Malia Aleaga out with an injury.
 
"I am really proud of how Adele stepped up in a tough situation and handled it with maturity and did a really good job for us tonight," added Flick-Williams.
 
Fairchild and junior opposite Tess Biscup each recorded 10 kills, and sophomore libero Kasey Woodruff had 18 digs.
 
Cate Whiting guided the Nanook offense with 51 assists, also adding 25 digs. AveRee Reynolds led UAF with 15 kills and Karli Nielseon and Rilee White each tallied 14 kills.
  The Vikings (7-4, 3-1 GNAC) are back on the road next weekend with GNAC matches against Western Oregon on Thursday in Monmouth (7 pm) and Saint Martin's in Lacey on Saturday (5:15 pm). The complete 2021 WWU Volleyball schedule, complete with results and links to follow matches live, can be found online at wwuvikings.com/VB.
  Kills - Gunterman (20), Heilborn (19), Fairchild (10), Biscup (10
Aces - Heilborn (1), Woodruff (1)
Blocks - Fairchild (9), Roetcisoender (8), Biscup (6)
Assists - Holland (48)
Digs - Heilborn (27), Gunterman (20), Woodruff (18)
Points - Gunterman (23.5), Heilborn (23.0), Fairchild (14.5), Biscup (13.0), Roetcisoender (6.5)
  WWU leads the all-time series vs. UAF 48-7, including a 38-3 record in GNAC matches. Have now won 24 consecutive matches vs. the Nanooks dating back to the 2008 season and are 25-0 all-time vs. UAF in matches played in Bellingham. Saturday's five-set victory snapped a string of 17 consecutive three-game sweeps by the Vikings over UAF.
  Here is a match-by-match look at the 2021 season through the first 11 matches of the season:
 

Date	Opponent		Score	Score-by-set
9/3	Sonoma State	W	3-1	26-24,23-25,25-18,25-18
9/4	MSU Denver (#11)	W	3-2	25-21,24-26,18-25,30-28,15-7
9/5	Chaminade	W	3-1	25-20,22-25,25-23,25-18
9/10	vs. Wayne State (#17)	L	0-3	22-25,17-25,22-25
9/10	vs. Lewis (#5)	L	0-3	16-25,24-26,16-25
9/11	vs. Lynn (RV)	W	3-2	22-25,25-16,23-25,25-20,15-11
9/11	vs. Cal State San Bernardino (#6)	L	2-3	23-25,35-33,25-17,21-25,13-15
9/18	at Simon Fraser* (#20)	W	3-2	25-13,19-25,20-25,25-23,15-9
9/23	at Central Washington*	L	1-3	13-25,25-19,15-25,23-25
9/25	at Northwest Nazarene*	W	3-1	25-13,25-27,25-22,25-22
9/30	Alaska Anchorage*	Postponed
10/2	Alaska Fairbanks*	W	3-2	25-13,20-25,25-23,23-25,15-13

  WWU is 7-4 overall and 3-1 in GNAC play, going 0-2 in three-set matches, 3-1 in four-set contests and 4-1 in five sets. Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2021 season:
 

2021 RECORD BREAKDOWN
Overall Record	7-4
Streak	W2
Home	4-0
Away	2-1
Neutral	1-3
GNAC Record	3-1
3-Set Matches	0-2
4-Set Matches	3-1
5-Set Matches	4-1
Ranked Opponents	2-3
Record by Jersey
Navy Blue	2-1
White	1-0
Light Blue	2-2
Dark Gray	2-1

  The Vikings improved to 4-1 in five-set matches this season with the 3-2 win over UAF Saturday night. WWU also defeated Simon Fraser on Sept. 18 in five sets, MSU Denver at the WWU Invitational and Lynn at the Colorado Premier (lost to No. 6 Cal State San Bernardino). Western is now 25-7 in five-set matches over the last seven seasons (since 2015), which includes a 15-4 mark over the last five seasons (since 2017).
  WWU is 4-0 this season on WECU Court in Carver Gym, after going 8-0 last spring. The Vikings own an all-time 288-82 (.778) record in the on-campus facility. Since moving back into the renovated facility for the 2017 season, the Vikings have gone 44-1. Western is 173-16 (.915) all-time in Carver Gym in the 22 seasons that head coach Diane Flick-Williams has led the program. WWU's last loss in Carver Gym was a five-set thriller vs. UAA on November 14, 2019, and has since won 13 consecutive matches in Bellingham.
  Here is a look at the 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings following play on Saturday:
 

2021 STANDINGS	CONF	PCT	OVERALL	PCT	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL	STREAK
Alaska Anchorage	5-0	1.000	12-5	.706	5-1	6-1	1-3	Won 5
Central Washington	4-1	.800	8-3	.727	6-0	1-1	1-2	Won 3
Western Washington	3-1	.750	7-4	.636	4-0	2-1	1-3	Won 2
Seattle Pacific	4-2	.667	8-5	.615	7-0	0-3	1-2	Won 2
Alaska Fairbanks	4-2	.667	11-7	.611	5-1	4-4	2-2	Lost 2
Montana State Billings	3-3	.500	6-8	.429	6-2	0-4	0-2	Won 2
Simon Fraser	2-3	.400	8-4	.667	1-2	2-1	5-1	Lost 1
Saint Martin's	1-4	.200	7-7	.500	1-2	1-3	5-2	Lost 2
Northwest Nazarene	0-5	.000	2-10	.167	0-2	1-8	1-0	Lost 1
Western Oregon	0-5	.000	2-10	.167	0-3	0-3	2-4	Lost 8
Saturday's Results (home team in bold) Montana State Billings 3, Saint Martin's 0 Seattle Pacific 3, Western Oregon 0 Alaska Anchorage 3, Simon Fraser 1 Western Washington 3, Alaska Fairbanks 2

  Fans can follow WWU Volleyball online at WWUVikings.com/VB, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUVolleyball), Instagram (@WWUVB) and Facebook (@WWUVolleyball). All home matches feature a live webcast, as well as most road matches, with links o  n how to follow the games available at WWUVikings.com/Live.
  Currently in its 50th season as a varsity intercollegiate sport at WWU, the Western volleyball program has risen to elite level by advancing to the NCAA Division II Championships in each of the last eight seasons and 14 of the last 19 dating back to the 2001 season. The winner of 10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships, Western won the 2018 GNAC title with a perfect 20-0 record, the 2017 championship by posting a 19-1 league and became a 3-peat champion with an 18-2 mark in 2019. Led by 22nd-year head coach Diane Flick-Williams (467-116/.801) the Vikings have posted a 218-46 record over the last 10 seasons (.826 winning percentage) and have played in the NCAA II West Region championship match four of the last five seasons (2015-18), winning titles in 2015 and 2018. WWU played for the NCAA II national championship in 2007 and 2018, both national runner-up finishes, and have advanced to the NCAA Final Four in two of the past five seasons (2015 and 2018).