ANCHORAGE (Oct. 19) - The UAA volleyball team used 15 service aces and an impressive .286 hitting percentage to win its sixth straight match, 30-23, 30-16, 30-18 over Northwest Nazarene at the Sports Center tonight.

Freshman outside hitter Carolyn DeKay led UAA (14-7, 7-4 GNAC) with 12 kills, while senior outside hitter Tiffany Massey paced the defense with 10 digs. Junior hitter Louise Free led NNU (8-11, 4-9) with 11 kills.

With the win the Seawolves remain tied for third place in the conference with Alaska Fairbanks, but are now just one-half match behind second-place Seattle Pacific and Central Washington (both 8-4).

UAA's hitting percentage (.286, 44 kills-16 errors-98 attempts) and aces totals were the second-best for the Seawolves this year, trailing marks of .410 and 24 aces (school record) in a blowout of West Virginia State on Sept. 7.

The Seawolves struggled to keep their focus early against the Crusaders, trailing 15-12 midway through the first game. But defensive specialist Kirsten Hunley served six straight points for the Seawolves to put them up 18-12. NNU cut the score to 21-20 before UAA put on a surge, powered by two Brianne Halling blocks and kill from Massey, to run away with the game.

Hunley, a sophomore from Anchorage's Dimond High, equaled her career-high with six aces in the match.

NNU never got into the second game, falling behind 6-0 when UAA freshman Rebecca Bergman opened the frame with four straight aces. Senior setter Janelle Veith dished 12 of her match-high 32 assists to help the Seawolves to a .464 (17-4-28) hitting percentage in the second.

UAA then finished off the Crusaders easily in the third, jumping to leads of 5-1 and 11-4. Halling had four of her 10 kills and the Seawolves combined for eight aces to pull away.

The Seawolves go for their seventh straight win Saturday night when they host Seattle University at 7:05 p.m. That match will be broadcast by UAA student radio station KRUA and is available on the internet at wolfstream.uaa.alaska.edu.