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#11 UAA sweeps WOU for outright title

Women's Volleyball UAA Media Relations

#11 UAA sweeps WOU for outright title

ANCHORAGE – Senior Julia Mackey blasted 11 kills on errorless hitting Saturday to power 11th-ranked Alaska Anchorage to the outright Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball title with a 25-21, 25-16, 25-11 sweep Western Oregon at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (26-2, 18-2 GNAC) also got 21 digs from freshman libero Kyla Militante-Amper as they finished one match ahead of Western Washington (23-5, 17-3) in the final league standings. It marks the second title for the Seawolves in the GNAC's 15-year history, along with the outright crown in 2009.

Western Oregon (8-21, 5-15) was led by 22 digs from libero Christie Colasurdo in its season finale.

The visitors from Monmouth stayed close for the first half of the first set, trailing just 15-14 after an attack error by the Seawolves. UAA won the next two points, however, and kept the lead until Morgan Hooe and Caitlin Hanson stuffed WOU's Amanda Short on set point.

UAA trailed 8-7 early in the second set before dominating the rest of the frame, including a 7-0 run to end it on Mackey's serve. The momentum continued in the third when the Seawolves collected the first eight points – including three blocks by junior Erin Braun – and did not let up until Leah Swiss and Hanson delivered consecutive kills to finish the match. After clinching no worse than a title tie in Thursday's sweep of Concordia, the Seawolves celebrated again after Saturday's match point.

Following a 3-2 (16-14) home loss to Western Washington on Oct. 15, the Seawolves have won 11 straight, overcoming a WWU team that led by two matches at the halfway point of the GNAC season.

In Saturday's clincher, Hooe finished with 29 assists, four kills and 13 digs, while Hanson, Leah Swiss and Katelynn Zanders tallied seven kills apiece. Braun added six kills on .385 hitting and four total blocks, including two solos.

Mackey, who currently stands No. 5 on UAA's career kills list, finished with a .500 attack percentage, reaching that mark for the sixth time this year.

At No. 1 in the regional rankings, the Seawolves are now in good position to earn the host role for the Dec. 3-5 NCAA West Regional Championships. The announcement of the NCAA Tournament field will be made via live webstream at 3:30 p.m. AST on Monday, Nov. 23.

As the GNAC champions, the Seawolves have already clinched their third straight NCAA berth and sixth in the last seven seasons.

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Players Mentioned

Julia Mackey

#6 Julia Mackey

RS
5' 11"
Freshman
Katelynn Zanders

#14 Katelynn Zanders

OH
5' 9"
Freshman
Erin Braun

#15 Erin Braun

MB
6' 0"
Freshman
Caitlin Hanson

#8 Caitlin Hanson

MB/RS
5' 11"
Sophomore
Morgan Hooe

#2 Morgan Hooe

S
5' 6"
Freshman
Leah Swiss

#7 Leah Swiss

OH
6' 0"
Freshman
Kyla Militante-Amper

#3 Kyla Militante-Amper

L/S
5' 3"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Julia Mackey

#6 Julia Mackey

5' 11"
Freshman
RS
Katelynn Zanders

#14 Katelynn Zanders

5' 9"
Freshman
OH
Erin Braun

#15 Erin Braun

6' 0"
Freshman
MB
Caitlin Hanson

#8 Caitlin Hanson

5' 11"
Sophomore
MB/RS
Morgan Hooe

#2 Morgan Hooe

5' 6"
Freshman
S
Leah Swiss

#7 Leah Swiss

6' 0"
Freshman
OH
Kyla Militante-Amper

#3 Kyla Militante-Amper

5' 3"
Freshman
L/S