Seawolves rally for 3-2 road win over 1st-place Wildcats

Ellensburg, Washington (Nov. 15) - Junior outside hitter Lee Ivakina had four of her 22 kills in the fifth set and junior Bella Burney delivered some late heroics Saturday to help the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team knock off league-leading Central Washington, 22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12, at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Seawolves (21-5, 12-4 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 20 kills and 14 digs from senior outside hitter Tia Allen as they pulled into a four-way tie for second place in the standings. UAA, Western Washington, Simon Fraser and Alaska Fairbanks all stand one match behind Central Washington with two matches remaining for each team.

The Wildcats (17-6, 13-3) got a match-high 24 kills and seven total blocks from Scottie Ellsworth, along with 34 digs by libero Brooklyn Parker, but saw their six-match win streak come to an end.

"I'm really proud of the confidence we played with tonight," said UAA head coach Stacie Meisner, whose team entered at No. 3 in the NCAA Div. II West Region rankings. "Central is big and very physical, but we didn't shy away from that and kept grinding away with big swings. It was once again a full team effort, with big contributions from Tia, Lee and Bella offensively."

After dropping the first set to the regionally 7th-ranked Wildcats, the Seawolves used a late surge to take control of the second. Martina Riba notched one of her six kills to put UAA ahead 24-20, and Ivakina came through with a kill on the fourth try at set point to tie the match.

UAA played from behind throughout the third set, before flipping the script in the fourth to stay alive. Allen had eight kills in the fourth, including a late one to make it 24-19 and the clincher a few moments later.

The momentum continued into the fifth as UAA scored the first four points and led throughout. Burney and Allen combined for a block to make it 9-3, and Burney answered a late Wildcat surge with a kill to go ahead 13-10 and a block assist alongside Riba on the next point. Ellsworth had a kill and a block to fend off two match points, but Burney answered with her 10th kill to clinch the victory, pushing UAA to an 8-0 record in five-set contests.

Burney hit .450 on the night, collecting three kills on four swings and her two critical block assists in the final set.

Freshman pin hitter Trinity Byrne had career highs of nine kills and eight digs in four sets played, while senior libero Madison Galloway led UAA with 16 digs.

Freshman setter Johana Malikova dished 42 assists, along with 15 assists and five digs from sophomore setter Hannah Trotter.

Junior Elena Hansen had three of her career-high five aces in the fourth set and another in the fifth, setting a Seawolf season high in the process.

The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center for their final two regular-season matches, hosting Montana State Billings on Thursday (7 p.m.) and Seattle Pacific on Saturday (noon) for senior day. Find tickets, live links and more at GoSeawolves.com.