ANCHORAGE – Senior setter
Ellen Floyd collected 30 assists, six kills and five aces to lead a dominant effort for the 9th-ranked Alaska Anchorage volleyball team Saturday in a 25-16, 25-7, 25-19 sweep of Montana State Billings at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (21-1, 11-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 13 kills on .429 hitting and five block assists from senior rightside hitter
Eve Stephens as they stretched their winning streak to 13 matches.
The Yellowjackets (7-12, 0-11) were led by four kills and seven digs from outside hitter Olivia Schwartz, but the visitors were outhit .330 to -.012 and outblocked 10-4.
"I thought our serve and our block really came together in the second set to help us take that one so handily," said UAA coach
Chris Green, whose team held an opponent to a negative hitting percentage for the third time this year. "We were pleased with the way we took care of business this week and hope we can continue our momentum with two huge road matches next week."
Entering the night ranked fourth in NCAA Div. II with a .288 team hitting percentage, the Seawolves never trailed in the first two sets. UAA outhit MSUB .480 to -.036 in the opening frame and .351 to -.040 in the second, committing just one attack error in each set.
Floyd was in command all night as the Seawolves' floor leader hit a season-high .750 (6 kills, 0 errors, 8 attacks), along with five digs and two block assists. The Pensacola, Fla., native served three straight aces late in the second set to tie the GNAC career record of 198 by Central Washington's Erin Norris (2006-09), and claimed it outright with two more in the third.
UAA trailed briefly at 10-9 in the third set, but senior
Lisa Jaunet ripped three kills during a 6-0 Seawolf run to retake command.
Sophomore middle blocker
Leilani Elder tied Stephens for match-high honors with five block assists, while senior libero
Talia Leauanae made a team-high 10 digs. Sophomore
Nicole Blue had five assists, and freshman outside hitter
Emma Beattie came off the bench in the third set to record her first career kill and assist.
The victory is UAA's eighth straight over MSU Billings and improves its all-time series lead to 55-11.
The Seawolves return to the road next week to face Simon Fraser on Thursday (6 p.m. ADT) in Burnaby, British Columbia, and 11th-ranked Western Washington on Saturday (6 p.m. ADT) in Bellingham, Wash. UAA leads the GNAC standings by 1.5 matches over WWU, having handed the Vikings their only league loss Sept. 22 in Anchorage. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for live video and stats links for both matches.