ANCHORAGE – Katelynn Zanders tallied another double-double Saturday but the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team suffered its second straight defeat in a 25-23, 25-14, 25-20 sweep by Central Washington at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
UAA (15-8, 9-2 GNAC) got 11 kills and 12 digs from Zanders as it lost back-to-back home matches for the first time since 2007, prior to the arrival of head coach Chris Green.
CWU (11-8, 7-4) was led by a match-high 14 kills from outside hitter Rachel Hanses and 16 digs from defensive specialist Lauren Herseth, avenging a 3-1 loss to UAA last month in Ellensburg.
The Wildcats out-hit the Seawolves .237 to .107 and out-dug them 60-49, getting seven kills apiece from four different players.
Zanders smashed a kill to pull UAA within 24-23 in the opening set, but CWU's Erin Smith answered with a spike down the middle to seal it. The visitors ran away early in the second and third sets and were never threatened by a Seawolf team playing for the second straight match without leading right-side hitter Julia Mackey.
A sophomore outside hitter, Zanders' double-double was her third in a row and team-best eighth this season.
Freshman middle blocker Erin Braun had the best hitting night for a Seawolf, notching seven kills with a .429 attack percentage, while outside hitter Brooke Pottle and middle blocker Jodi Huddleston added five kills apiece.
Defensively, Huddleston added five block assists, while junior libero Quinn Barker made 14 digs. Senior setter Siobhan Johansen dished 24 assists and made 11 digs.
The Seawolves return to the road next week, facing Saint Martin's on Thursday, Oct. 31 in Olympia, Wash., and Western Oregon on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Monmouth.
NOTES: UAA still controls its own destiny in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference race despite its consecutive losses this week … Johansen, who entered the night with 1,491 career assists, becomes the 10th player in program history to surpass the 1,500 plateau … Maureen Sabado had four kills to continue her streak of three or more in every match this year … sophomore middle/right-side hitter Caitlin McInerney played only one set but earned a new career-high with four block assists.
