SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Sophomore Eve Stephens delivered four of her 14 kills in the fifth set Thursday to help No. 4 seed Alaska Anchorage overcome a late deficit and defeat No. 5 seed UC San Diego, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 21-25, 16-14 in the first round of the NCAA Div. II West Region Volleyball Championships at The Den.

The Seawolves (23-6) also got 10 kills and seven total blocks from junior middle blocker Kayla McGlathery as they avenged a September loss and earned an NCAA victory for the first time since defeating Palm Beach Atlantic in the 2016 NCAA Semifinals.

The Tritons (18-9) were led by 14 kills, 11 digs and five aces from Emily Hubbard, but the California Collegiate Association squad was outhit .264 to .155 and outblocked 13-5 in its final match before moving to the NCAA Div. I level next season.

"I'm extremely proud of this team for showing the same fight they have all year," said UAA head coach Chris Green, whose program earned an NCAA first-round win for the fourth time. "Offensively, we were very good when our passing got the ball to Ellen (Floyd), and our block started to take control of the net late in the match. We proved tonight how far we've come since the beginning of the season when we lost to them in Anchorage."

Having lost in four sets to UCSD on Sept. 7 in Anchorage, UAA came out slow in the rematch and could not complete a late comeback in the opening set.

The second set was a back-and-forth affair that became tied 22-22 on a kill by UCSD's Sydney Tekstra. UAA senior Vanessa Hayes ripped one of her 11 kills on the next rally, and Stephens and Vera Pluharova combined on a block to make it 24-22. Trinity Castaneda launched one of her match-high 16 kills on the next points, but UAA hung on when Floyd fed Hayes for another kill.

UAA dominated most of the third set, outhitting UCSD .393 to .051 to grab a 2-1 lead, before the Tritons answered by taking the fourth, snapping a 19-19 tie and winning six of the last eight rallies.

The fifth set was filled with momentum swings, with UAA coming back from 5-1 and 8-4 deficits. Pluharova recorded one of her five kills to stop the Tritons' momentum, and Hayes took over the serve, leading to three more Seawolf points and a UCSD timeout. The Seawolves continued their surge as Pluharova and Stephens combined on two more blocks, and Hannah Pembroke ripped a kill to make it 12-8.

UCSD would not go quietly, though, winning the next four points and forging ties at 13-13 and 14-14. With the season boiled down to a two-point match, Floyd found Pembroke for the final go-ahead kill, and the Seawolves won when UCSD middle blocker Jessica Rieble's attack went into the net.

Floyd – a sophomore setter from Pensacola, Fla. – finished with 44 assists as the AVCA All-West Region selection surpassed 2,000 for her career, officially one pace now to break UAA's career record. Pembroke collected eight kills on match-high .375 hitting and three block assists, along with seven digs, while Pluharova added six total blocks.

Hayes had three aces to give her 55 for the season and pull her closer to the UAA record of 59 by O'Lita McWilliams in 2003, and sophomore libero Talia Leauanae led the way along the back row with 13 digs.

UAA's victory comes on the same court and in similar fashion to the program's first-ever NCAA victory, a 5-setter over Hawaii-Hilo in the 2009 tournament.

The Seawolves will face another rematch in the second round when they take on either 8^th-seeded Central Washington or top-seeded and nationally top-ranked Cal State San Bernardino on Friday at 6:30 p.m. AST at The Den. Live video of that match will be available at ccaanetwork.com.