ANCHORAGE – The Alaska Anchorage volleyball team fought off three match points in the third set Thursday and used big offensive nights from pin hitters Eve Stephens and Lisa Jaunet to rally for a 22-25, 24-26, 28-26, 25-21, 15-8 comeback victory over Biola in the Seawolf Invitational at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (4-1) got 20 kills on .314 hitting, 12 digs and five blocks from Stephens, who notched her third straight double-double, plus 19 kills, six digs and two solo blocks from Jaunet, a junior-college transfer making her debut in front of the home fans. It was the first match UAA played in front of its home crowd since Nov. 23, 2019.

The Eagles (0-1) – picked to finish fourth in the Pacific West Conference preseason poll – were led by 17 kills from outside hitter Madison Beebe and 22 digs from all-conference libero Sami Hover, but the visitors from Los Angeles could not close out the hosts despite late leads of 22-18 and 23-20 in the third set.

"That was some great fight by our team to overcome some early offensive struggles," said UAA head coach Chris Green, whose team avoided being swept at home for the first time in nearly four years. "Our pin hitters – Eve, Lisa and Mahala (Kaapuni) – all stepped up and played well. We also got some great play in the middle from Akor Maywin and Leilani Elder, who stepped in there as a true freshman and made some huge plays late that didn't necessarily show up in the box score, but were key to earning a win against a very good team tonight."

Already down two sets to none, the Seawolves tied the third at 23-23 when Stephens followed two straight Biola attack errors with a kill. Eagles middle blocker Raegan Tjepkema gave her team its first match point with a kill, only to see Stephens tie it again. After the teams traded service errors, Stephens rescued her club once more with a kill on a perfect feed from junior setter Ellen Floyd, and Jaunet slammed down an Eagles overpass for a 27-26 lead. UAA survived to play another set when Biola's Abby Brewster then hit an attack wide.

It took another significant comeback to send the match the distance, as UAA rallied from a 13-7 hole in the fourth set. Stephens, Jaunet and Kaapuni notched key kills during a 12-4 Seawolf run that turned the tide, and Stephens had three kills and an ace on UAA's final four points to win the frame.

UAA won five of the first six rallies in the fifth set and never let Biola closer than 8-5 as the Seawolves hit a blazing .643 (10 kills, 1 error, 14 attacks) to avoid any drama at the end.

Kaapuni finished with eight kills on .375 hitting and Maywin had six kills on career-best .417 hitting, tying her personal best with four blocks as well.

Floyd – the reigning Great Northwest Athletic Conference defensive player of the week – dished 52 assists, made a team-high 19 digs and tallied three block assists. Junior libero Talia Leauanae was also solid along the back row with 18 digs.

The Seawolves return to the court in short order to face Texas A&M International (0-0) in the early match Friday, with first serve set for 9:30 a.m.