NAMPA, Idaho – Eve Stephens produced 20 kills and fellow veterans Ellen Floyd and Talia Leauanae had big matches Thursday, helping the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team rally for a 12-25, 28-26, 25-18, 26-24 victory over Northwest Nazarene at the Johnson Sports Center.

The Seawolves (17-8, 10-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) snapped a two-match losing skid as Floyd delivered 39 assists, 18 digs and a career-high-tying seven kills, and Leauanae had 18 digs, four assists and a pair of aces.

The Nighthawks (5-16, 2-11) were led by 12 kills from Tayler Markland and 31 digs from Caroline McMahon, but the hosts could not capitalize on a dominant first-set performance and a pair of set-point chances in the second frame.

"We continue to struggle offensively, but we were able to gut out a difficult win against a team that is much better than its record indicates," said UAA head coach Chris Green, whose team stands No. 5 in the NCAA West Region rankings. "Luckily Eve got going and played very well after the opening set, and Ellen made some great decisions about when to attack and when to pass. I was really proud of the mental toughness we showed in the fourth, too, coming back from that big of a hole."

After being outhit .300 to -.088 in losing the opening set, UAA evened the match by prevailing in a second frame that featured 20 ties, eight lead changes and two set points repelled by each team. Down 26-25, UAA flipped the advantage with a kill and an ace by senior middle blocker Vera Pluharova, then won when NNU's Molly Anderson hit the ball outside the antenna.

The Seawolves never trailed in the third, finally pulling away from a 15-15 tie with six straight points, including a pair of kills from Akor Maywin.

The fourth set would not be as simple, with the hosts jumping to leads of 6-1, 13-7 and finally 19-12 when Green used his final timeout. UAA answered with four straight kills, including two from freshman Mahala Kaapuni, and capped a 9-2 run when Pluhaorva stuffed a Nighthawk middle attack. Consecutive kills from freshman Nicole Blue gave UAA a 23-22 lead, and Floyd made it a 24-23 advantage with her final kill of the evening. NNU's Natalie Sullivan ended a long rally with a kill to keep her team alive, but the Seawolves used a kill by Stephens to take the lead and prevailed when Markland hit her final attack just long.

Stephens reached the 20-kill plateau for the fifth time this season and added 16 digs to record her ninth double-double.

Floyd tied her career high in kills for the fourth time, while producing at least 15 digs for the eighth time this year.

Seven different Seawolves delivered at least five kills and one block, with Kaapuni accounting for nine kills and Blue for six kills. Pluharova posted a team-high five blocks.

UAA earned its third straight win in Nampa and its seventh straight against NNU, extending the longest winning streak in the head-to-head series. The victory also clinched a winning GNAC record for the Seawolves for the 12th year in a row.

The Seawolves stay on the road for their next three matches, with their next two – Saturday at Central Washington and Monday at Western Washington – coming against fellow regionally ranked clubs. Both of those contests begin at 6 p.m. Alaska time, and can be watched live on YouTube.