SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Jackie Matthisen and Robyn Burton combined for 26 kills and Kimya Jafroudi tallied 45 assists Saturday as the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team swept to a 25-18, 25-16, 25-20 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills at Coussoulis Arena in the Coyote Labor Day Classic.
In the late match, the Seawolves fell to 4-4 on the season as they lost in four sets to Cal State Los Angeles.
Against Dominguez Hills, the Seawolves recorded an impressive .374 attack percentage as Burton tallied a personal-best .769 percentage with 11 kills on 13 attempts, committing just one error. Matthisen, a senior outside hitter, slammed 15 kills on .382 hitting and barely missed her fourth double-double of the season with nine digs.
The Toros (1-2) were led by 13 kills and nine digs from outside hitter Elizabeth Krieger.
"Our hitters were extremely sharp and that had a lot to do with Kimya running the offense very well," said fourth-year head coach Chris Green.
Jafroudi, from nearby Huntington Beach, Calif., also had seven digs.
After taking the first set, the Seawolves broke open a tight second by hitting .515 (21 kills-4 errors-33 attacks) in that frame. UAA started the third with a 9-0 run behind the serving of Nikkie Viotto (6 kills, 12 digs) before the Toros rallied back to tie it 13-13. The Seawolves would recover their momentum, however, and end the match by winning eight of the last 11 rallies.
Another Californian, junior middle blocker Miranda Doing (La Mirada HS/Pasadena CC), also contributed to the lofty attack percentage with .538 hitting (8-1-13). Fellow junior-college transfer Ariel Austin chipped in with eight kills.
Viotto and libero Quincy Haught led the Seawolves with 12 digs apiece.
Cal State Los Angeles 3, Alaska Anchorage 1
What looked like a classic matchup through two and a half sets turned out to be a runaway victory for Cal State Los Angeles as the Golden Eagles earned a 25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 25-14 victory over the Seawolves in UAA's final match at Coussoulis on Saturday night.
The Seawolves got a career-high 19 kills from Burton, who hit .378 for the match, plus 10 kills from Austin in the loss. Jafroudi tallied 49 assists and seven digs, while Haught led UAA with 16 digs.
With the score tied 18-18 in the third, the teams had split the first 132 points of the match, but the Golden Eagles captured the next three rallies to take control. CSULA, a perennial playoff team, then started the fourth set with an 11-2 run to essentially clinch the win.
Natalia Gonzalez had 16 kills and Samantha Potter had 15 kills and nine digs for CSULA, which improved to 3-1.
UAA, which is shooting for its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance this season, returns home next week to begin the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season with a match against Western Oregon. That contest starts at 7 p.m. ADT at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
