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Spikers aim for sweep of Nanooks

Women's Volleyball UAA Media Relations

Seawolves sweep Saints in Lacey

LACEY, Wash. – Jackie Matthisen notched 13 kills and Robyn Burton made seven blocks Thursday to bring the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team within one victory of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference title with a 25-22, 26-24, 25-7 win against Saint Martin's at Marcus Pavilion.

The Seawolves (18-7, 14-3 GNAC) also got 38 assists and six digs from junior setter Kimya Jafroudi as they pulled even with idle Seattle Pacific (20-6, 14-3) in the standings.

Regionally 8th-ranked UAA closes the season Saturday at Western Oregon, while regionally 4th-ranked SPU plays at Montana State Billings. If both UAA and SPU post the same result, the Seawolves own the tiebreaker for the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid. A third contender, Western Washington, dropped out of the race for the automatic bid with a 4-set loss at Central Washington on Thursday.

The Seawolves started slow against the Saints, battling to win the first set after 11 ties. Knotted at 19, Ariel Austin slammed one of her nine kills to put UAA ahead for good, and Miranda Doing (6 kills, 4 blocks) put away an overpass on set point to clinch it.

SMU (6-18, 4-13), led by 12 kills and 11 digs from Kristyn Ross, hung tough in the second set, keeping the score tied at 17 before the Seawolves scored four straight points. UAA took a 23-19 advantage on a kill by Matthisen and went up 24-22 on a kill by Nikkie Viotto (4 kills, 15 digs), but SMU got two straight kills from Ross to tie it. Burton, who came in No. 4 in the GNAC with 1.05 blocks per set, then delivered a solo against SMU's Katy Ferguson, and UAA won it on an attack error by Ross.

The Seawolves asserted themselves early in the third, scoring 13 of the first 15 points, and never looking back.

Burton had eight kills on .500 hitting – the 11th time this year she has hit .500 or better – and Matthisen passed the 1,100-kill mark for her career as the senior now has 1,108.

Sophomore libero Quincy Haught had a match-high 16 digs, plus three aces, while sophomore Siobhan Johansen added 10 digs and a pair of aces.

The victory was UAA's eighth straight over SMU, including four in a row in Lacey.

UAA's regular-season finale Saturday in Monmouth, Ore., will begin at 6 p.m. AST and can be viewed live on the internet. Find links to video and live stats by surfing to GoSeawolves.com and clicking on the 'Calendar' link.


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Players Mentioned

Jackie Matthisen

#RS Jackie Matthisen

MB/OH
5' 11"
Sophomore
Nikkie Viotto

#9 Nikkie Viotto

DS
5' 8"
Freshman
Robyn Burton

#4 Robyn Burton

MB
5' 11"
Freshman
Quincy Haught

#7 Quincy Haught

DS
5' 7"
Freshman
Siobhan Johansen

#10 Siobhan Johansen

S
5' 7"
Freshman
Ariel Austin

#5 Ariel Austin

RS
6' 0"
Junior
Miranda Doing

#14 Miranda Doing

MB
5' 11"
Junior
Kimya Jafroudi

#11 Kimya Jafroudi

S
5' 7"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Jackie Matthisen

#RS Jackie Matthisen

5' 11"
Sophomore
MB/OH
Nikkie Viotto

#9 Nikkie Viotto

5' 8"
Freshman
DS
Robyn Burton

#4 Robyn Burton

5' 11"
Freshman
MB
Quincy Haught

#7 Quincy Haught

5' 7"
Freshman
DS
Siobhan Johansen

#10 Siobhan Johansen

5' 7"
Freshman
S
Ariel Austin

#5 Ariel Austin

6' 0"
Junior
RS
Miranda Doing

#14 Miranda Doing

5' 11"
Junior
MB
Kimya Jafroudi

#11 Kimya Jafroudi

5' 7"
Junior
S