LAIE, Hawaii – Sophomore right-side hitter Julia Mackey tied for match-high honors with 12 kills, but the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team came up short in its season-opener at No. 5 Brigham Young-Hawaii on Thursday night, falling 25-22, 25-17, 25-18 at the Cannon Activities Center.
UAA, picked to finish third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason poll, also got eight kills and seven digs from junior newcomer Brooke Pottle, along with 29 assists and eight digs from senior setter Siobhan Johansen.
The Seasiders (1-0) – the defending Pacific West Conference and NCAA Div. II West Region champions – were led by 12 kills on .357 hitting and 15 digs from two-time Pac West Player-of-the-Year Stella Chen.
Despite earning the opening rallies in sets 1 and 2, the Seawolves would fall behind early in both frames. UAA rallied to tie the first set 19-19 on a kill by Pottle before BYUH took five of the next six rallies to seize control. After falling behind 10-4 early in the second, UAA got within 17-15, but could get no closer.
The Seawolves earned their first multi-point lead of the night when they surged ahead 6-3 early in the third, getting two kills from Pottle and one from Mackey in a 4-0 run. Freshman middle blocker Erin Braun smashed an unassisted kill to make it a 14-11 UAA advantage, however the Seasiders would respond once more, getting a pair of kills and two aces from setter Michelle Chen to key a 6-0 run of their own. Mackey's final kill cut the deficit to 20-17, but the hosts clinched it with a 5-1 streak.
Junior libero Quinn Barker, a JC transfer from Central Arizona College, tallied a team-high 17 digs in her UAA debut, while Braun and Katelynn Zanders paced the visitors with three block assists apiece.
The Seawolves are back in action Friday at 9 p.m. ADT when they take on Chaminade in Honolulu. The Silverswords, another Pac West team, will be making their season debut.
