ANCHORAGE (Sep. 17) - The Seawolf volleyball team put together late rallies in the first and third games Saturday to record its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory of the season, sweeping aside Saint Martin's, 30-28, 30-22, 32-30, at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
UAA (4-8, 1-3 GNAC) got 11 kills apiece from Chelsey Glines and Brenda Cooper as it hit for a season-best .268 attack percentage. The Saints (0-10, 0-4) were led by 17 kills and nine digs from junior hitter Carrie Ooms.
Glines was key for UAA in both the Game 1 and Game 3 comebacks. The junior middle blocker also finished with a six total blocks.
In the opening frame, the Saints forged a 27-24 lead and looked as if they might post just their second game win of the year. But an SMU service error opened the door for a Seawolf rally, and Glines slammed two straight kills to tie it. After a Saints timeout, Keana Morrisey committed an attack error, and Jenny Carpenter (5 kills, 5 digs, 3 aces) ripped a kill to make it game point at 29-27. Andrea Tarbet's ensuing kill kept the Saints alive before UAA went up 1-0 on another SMU attack error.
The Seawolves rolled to victory in the second game behind .306 team hitting, boosted by Cooper's .556 (6 kills, 1 error, 9 attempts) percentage.
Game 3 presented SMU with another great opportunity as it grabbed a 28-24 lead on an Ooms kill. But the Seawolves proved resilient again, scratching within a point after a kill by Heather Lyons (9 kills, 6 digs) and two more Saints attack errors. Ooms' final kill of the evening gave her team a pair of game points, but back-to-back kills by Lyons and Cooper knotted it at 29-29.
Then, with the score 30-30, SMU made another attack error, and UAA captured the win when setter Lindsey Robertson's quick attack found a hole in the Saints' defense.
Robertson, a junior transfer from Walla Walla Community College, saw her first action of the year, coming back from a preseason illness. She played only the third game and finished with 16 assists, four digs and a pair of kills. Junior Stephanie Martinez started at setter and recorded 23 assists and eight digs through in the first two games.
Cooper, a redshirt freshman from Anchorage's Service High, put up the best hitting percentage (.474, 11-2-19) of her young career, and shined on defense with seven block assists.
Fellow rookie Caitlin Grenier led UAA with 11 digs, while posting seven kills and six total blocks.
The Seawolves outdug their opponent (56-49) for just the second time this season, and they outblocked the visitors from Lacey, Wash., 12-3.
UAA is back on the road next week for matches at nationally ranked Seattle Pacific (Thur., Sept. 22) and Northwest Nazarene (Sat., Sept. 24).
