ANCHORAGE – Senior Vanessa Hayes blasted a career-high 18 kills and the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team used a huge fourth-set comeback Saturday to upset No. 2 Western Washington, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 26-24, ending the Vikings' 47-match Great Northwest Athletic Conference winning streak.

The Seawolves (13-5, 8-2 GNAC) also got 15 kills and 13 digs from sophomore right-side hitter Eve Stephens and 45 assists and 12 digs from sophomore setter Ellen Floyd as they beat the two-time defending league champions for the first time in six regular-season meetings at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Vikings (17-1, 9-1) were led by 16 kills and 17 digs from freshman outside hitter Calley Heilborn, but the defending national runners-up were hurt by 14 service errors in an otherwise statistically even match.

"We got off to a fast start with five blocks in the first set, and that gave us a lot of confidence going forward," said UAA head coach Chris Green, whose program has still never lost consecutive matches at the Alaska Airlines Center. "Everyone did their job well tonight, and Vanessa really stepped up for us. This was a great win for our program and hopefully another step forward in our team's development."

UAA scored the first five points of the match and eventually pulled away to win the opening set for the 17th time in 18 matches this year. Tied 17-17, freshman Hannah Pembroke and Stephens bookended a Talia Leauanae ace with kills, and another Pembroke kill would make it 22-18 as the Seawolves finished on an 8-2 run.

Western Washington reasserted itself in the second set, outhitting the hosts .343 to .175 to square the match. Heilborn had five kills and GNAC Preseason Player of the Year Kayleigh Harper earned four of her six block assists in the set.

The Seawolves never trailed in the third, pulling away from a 6-6 tie with a 7-1 run. The Vikings drew within three points on four occasions before a Kayla McGlathery kill made it 22-18, and Stephens converted a pass from Floyd on set point.

Western Washington took early control of the fourth set, claiming an 11-3 lead with a 5-0 run. UAA began chipping away slowly, but still trailed 22-18 after Floyd was called for an illegal back-row attack. Floyd found Stephens for a kill on the next rally, and a Hayes kill made it 22-20 before Heilborn answered with one of her own.

Hayes – the lone player remaining from UAA's 2016 NCAA runner-up team – rose to the occasion again, sandwiching two more kills around a Floyd ace to tie the set. Another Heilborn kill earned her team a set point, but Vikings setter Malia Aleaga was in the net on the following rally. Stephens gave the Seawolves the lead with a shot just inside the back line that was initially called out but overturned on video replay, and UAA converted on match point when Stephens picked up a rare assist, finding Pembroke at the middle of the net for the winning kill.

"This was really huge," said Hayes, who hit .381, committing just two attack errors. "For them to come in here undefeated and for us to beat them in four, it was amazing what our team did. It just felt like all the stars aligned for us."

Stephens added 13 digs for her second straight double-double and sixth this season, while Leauanae led UAA with 17 digs. McGlathery had nine kills and four block assists, Pembroke had eight kills, and freshman Maggie Schlueter served two of the Seawolves' six aces.

UAA snapped losing skids of five in a row against nationally ranked teams, five in a row against WWU and seven in a row against WWU at home during the regular season. The Seawolves' only previous win over the Vikings at the Alaska Airlines Center came in the 2016 NCAA Div. II West Regional Championships final.

The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center for another rivalry match Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Alaska Fairbanks (9-9, 6-4). Visit AlaskaAirlinesCenter.com for tickets.