BURNABY, British Columbia – Alaska Anchorage right-side hitters Maureen Sabado and Julia Mackey combined for 24 kills Thursday as the Seawolves earned their eighth straight volleyball victory, 25-21, 25-22, 25-14 over Simon Fraser at the SFU West Gymnasium.
The Seawolves (14-6, 8-0 GNAC) also got seven kills and a match-high 14 digs from junior outside hitter Brooke Pottle, keeping them one of two unbeaten teams in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play and setting up Saturday's 6 p.m. ADT showdown between UAA and nationally 7th-ranked Western Washington (14-1, 7-0).
Despite extremely slow starts in the first and second sets, the Seawolves rallied behind the play of Sabado, with the junior from Kodiak accounting for 11 kills on .688 hitting – both career-highs. Sabado did not commit an attack error in 16 attempts, while Mackey contributed 13 kills on .370 hitting.
The Clan (7-6, 2-5) were led by nine kills from outside hitter Devon May and 12 digs from libero Alanna Chan, but could not capitalize in leads of 10-2 in the opening frame and 16-9 in the second.
UAA's comeback came quickly in the first, answering SFU's 10-2 run with one of its own to tie it 12-12. The Seawolves took the lead for good when Katelynn Zanders slammed two consecutive kills to make it 19-17, and Pottle and Sabado would finish it off with back-to-back kills.
SFU surged ahead 12-4 to start the second set and led 16-9 before UAA made its surge. Senior Jodi Huddleston had a solo block and a kill on consecutive points to force a Clan timeout, and Zanders, Sabado and Pottle smashed three straight to make it 19-19. SFU's Mackenzie Dunham gave her team a 20-19 edge with a kill but the hosts hit the ensuing serve long and UAA capitalized, going up 22-20 on two more Sabado spikes. Leading 24-22, Mackey ended it on a feed from senior setter Siobhan Johansen, who tallied a match-high 26 assists.
UAA never trailed in the third set, taking a 16-6 lead and finishing with Sabado's final kill on match point.
The Seawolves out-hit the Clan .312 to .189 and led 7-3 in service aces.
Zanders compiled seven kills and eight digs, while Huddleston had four kills on .500 hitting. Freshman middle blocker Erin Braun added three kills and had five total blocks, including a pair of solos.
The Seawolves improved to 7-0 all-time against the Clan, winning 21 of 22 sets.
Saturday's first-place battle in Bellingham can be followed online via live video and stats.
NOTES: UAA extended a program-best by clinching a sixth straight winning season, all coinciding with the arrival of head coach Chris Green in 2008 … the Seawolves have tied the 10th-longest win streak in program history and forged the longest since a record 13 straight during the 2009 GNAC title run … Sabado set her career-high by one kill, topping the 10 she had in her collegiate debut last year against Central Washington … Mackey has tallied double-figure kills in eight straight matches and 1topping the 10 she had in her collegiate debut last year against Central Washington … Mackey has tallied double-figure kills in eight straight matches and 14 of 20 this year … Johansen became the 18th Seawolf to play in 100 career matches … with three aces Thursday, Johansen reached 78 for her career and needs just one more to move into UAA's top 20 … now with 1,434 assists, the Johansen is also within striking distance of the career top 10 in that category, needing 27 more to pass Molly Merritt (1,460, 1993-94).
