ANCHORAGE - Robyn Burton and the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team put up league season-best attack percentages Saturday as the Seawolves romped to a 25-16, 25-22, 25-13 shutout of Alaska Fairbanks at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
The Seawolves (12-6, 8-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) got 13 kills apiece from Burton and senior outside hitter Jackie Matthisen as they swept the season series and won for the third straight time against their in-state rivals.
The Nanooks (2-16, 2-8) were led by eight kills on .467 hitting from junior middle blocker Casey Tidwell.
Burton, a sophomore middle blocker, recorded a .765 attack percentage (13 kills-0 errors-17 attacks) for her eighth performance of .500 or better this season, while Matthisen hit .370 (13-3-27). The Seawolves' team attack percentage of .412 marked the first time reaching the .400 mark since Sept. 6, 2002 (a 3-0 win over Charleston [W.Va.]) and was their best since the formation of the GNAC in 2001.
Junior setter Kimya Jafroudi was largely responsible for the hot hitting of UAA, dishing 37 assists. Junior right-side hitter Ariel Austin pounded seven kills, and Nikkie Viotto and Miranda Doing tallied three apiece.
The Seawolves dominated throughout the first and third sets, but they had to make a late comeback in the second to secure the sweep. UAF led 19-15 on a kill by Reilly Stevens before Burton answered with an authoritative kill of her own. A kill by Matthisen drew UAA within a point, and the Seawolves finally caught up at 21-21 on back-to-back kills from Matthisen and Viotto. Austin would chip in a kill moments later to make it 24-21, helping the Seawolves end the frame with a 10-3 run.
Sophomore libero Quincy Haught made a match-high 10 digs in the victory. The Arizona native also had three aces and recorded just her second kill of the season.
The victory keeps UAA in a second-place tie in the GNAC with Seattle Pacific. Western Washington - which stands half a match ahead of UAA and SPU - will be the Seawolves' next opponent, invading the WFSC on Thursday (7 p.m. ADT).
NOTES: Matthisen moved into fifth place on the UAA all-time kills list at 991, passing Jeni Phillips (986, 1993-96) for that honor; next up on the list are Sabrina Bingham (1,012, 1996-99) and Brianne McCabe (1,024, 1999-2002) ... Saturday's crowd of 784 was a season-high and the 5th-largest in program history ... five of the six largest attendances have come against UAF.
