ANCHORAGE – Juniors
Ellen Floyd and
Eve Stephens powered an efficient performance by the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team Friday to lead their squad to its fourth straight victory with a 25-22, 25-16, 25-11 sweep of Indianapolis in the Seawolf Invitational at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Floyd had 35 assists, 10 digs, three aces, three blocks and three kills with no errors of any kind, and Stephens posted 14 kills on .400 hitting as the Seawolves (6-1) outhit the visitors .315 to .114 and won the blocking battle by a 7-1 count.
The Greyhounds (0-2) were led by nine kills and six digs from outside hitter Grace Hegwood in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
"We were able to minimize our mistakes, and our hitters made a lot of smart decisions about where to go with their attacks," said UAA head coach
Chris Green, whose team faces No. 18 Central Missouri in Saturday's invitational finale. "Any time you get through a match with just seven attack errors, it's a formula for success. We will need to keep improving, though, especially with a quality, nationally ranked opponent coming in tomorrow night."
The Seawolves survived a bumpy first set to earn the sweep, rallying from a 19-15 deficit in the opening frame. Junior
Lisa Jaunet got the decisive run started with a kill, then teamed on a block with freshman
Leilani Elder and ripped another kill to make it 20-20. The hosts made it a 9-1 surge on a kill from Stephens, and after the Greyhounds fought off two set points, it was Jaunet again converting a feed from Floyd for the clincher.
UAA pulled away from a 9-9 tie in the second with a 10-2 run, and the Seawolves hit a blazing .667 (15 kills, one error, 21 attacks) in a dominant third-set performance.
Floyd had another huge all-around night, with her assist total moving her into No. 4 on UAA's career list, now with 2,873. The Pensacola, Fla., native and Preseason All-Great Northwest Conference pick also rose to a tie for No. 4 on the career aces list at 129.
Meanwhile, Stephens did not commit an attack error and added seven digs as the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year notched double-digit kills for the six time in seven matches this year. Jaunet finished with seven kills on .333 hitting, and middle blockers
Vera Pluharova and
Leilani Elder had six kills apiece on combined .400 hitting. Pluharova also made a match-high four total blocks, including a solo.
Junior libero
Talia Leauanae had a match-high 15 digs, and freshman defensive specialist
Reilly Plumhoff tallied 14 digs, three assists, two aces and no service errors in 17 attempts.
The Seawolves next face No. 18 Central Missouri (2-0) in Saturday's 7:30 p.m. match at the Alaska Airlines Center. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for advance tickets.