ST. PAUL, Minn. ? Outside hitter Rhea Cardwell smashed a career-high 25 kills and libero Stacie Meisner made 25 digs as the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team produced a late fifth-set rally to stun No. 8-ranked Augustana 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13 at the Gangelhoff Center on Friday.
Later, UAA took an early lead in its match against No. 13 Southwest Minnesota State, but the Mustangs rebounded for a 17-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-19 win over the Seawolves. Both matches were part of the Radisson-Roseville Concordia Classic.
Match 1 ? UAA 3, Augustana 2
In addition to Cardwell, the Seawolves (8-2) also got big performances from senior outside hitter Rachel Kidwell (15 kills, 11 digs) and sophomore middle blocker Cortney Lundberg (13 kills, .385 att.%) as they posted their first win over a ranked opponent this decade.
Junior setter Calli Scott dished a career-high 57 assists and made 11 digs, while senior outside hitter Joanna Johnson had 15 digs.
Augustana (7-2) was led by 19 kills from Cayla Schroeder and 10 kills on .455 hitting by Jenna Hultgren, but the South Dakota school could not hold on to a 12-7 lead as UAA rallied in the final set.
Lundberg sparked the Seawolf comeback with a kill, and Kidwell and Cardwell followed with a pair of their own, sandwiched around a couple of Vikings errors, to tie it 12-12. After trading the next two points, Cardwell ripped her final kill and, following an Augustana timeout, Meisner served her third ace on match point.
Cardwell bettered her previous career-high in attacks with 72, while her 12 digs gave her four double-doubles in the last five matches.
Match 2 ? Southwest Minnesota State 3, UAA 1
The Seawolves (8-3) dominated the first set, out-hitting the 13th-ranked Mustangs .290 to .105, but SMSU (8-1) picked up its attack percentage in the ensuing sets and outdug UAA 84-64.
SMSU's Laura Hegerle connected on a match-high 19 kills, while Cardwell led UAA with 17 kills.
Lundberg, a sophomore JC transfer from Hardin, Mont., continued her impressive play with 13 kills on 19 attempts with just one error, plus six total blocks. Her .632 attack percentage tops her own team season-high and is the fourth time she has his .500 or better this year.
Meisner was solid on the back row again for the Seawolves with 23 digs, while Johnson came up with 16 digs.
More challenges lay ahead for the Seawolves as they prepare to take on No. 5-ranked Truman (Mo.) State at 8 a.m. ADT Saturday, then face host, No. 3-ranked and defending national champion Concordia at 4:30 p.m. ADT.
Quotes from UAA head coach Chris Green:
"The first one was a hard-fought match and just an amazing comeback by us in the fifth. I don't know if it was a cleanly played match for either side, but it was certainly a really good win for us."
"We had poor ball control in the second match, and usually that's our strength. They had some tough servers that kept our passers off-balance and affected our offense."
"Our players are really positive and excited about the win. They never give up; they just work their tails off the whole time. When it's crunch time they really do a good job of not making mistakes and find a way to scratch out wins."
