ANCHORAGE (Oct. 21) – Senior outside hitter Nicole Blue's match-high 13 kills were not enough Saturday for the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team as Western Washington pulled away for a 26-24, 25-23, 25-16 sweep at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (12-14, 4-7 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got nine kills and a pair of blocks from junior outside hitter Bethany Tuchardt, but the hosts were outhit .233 to .130.

The Vikings (7-12, 7-4) were led by 10 kills and 14 digs from outside hitter Devyn Oestreich and eight kills on .500 hitting from middle blocker Emily Vossenkuhl as they earned a sweep of the season series.

After playing an epic first set in their Thursday 3-1 loss to Simon Fraser, the Seawolves opened with another against the Vikings, featuring 15 ties and seven lead changes. Trailing 24-22, UAA got consecutive block from Blue and Isabel Evans to tie it, before a service error and an ace by Vikings setter Caroline Hansen ended it.

Tuchardt had six kills in the second set, but the Seawolves could not capitalize on an early lead when the Vikings used an 8-2 run to forge a 20-20 tie. After a block by Evans and Kadyn Osborne retied it at 23-23, Oestrich answered with a kill, and Tuchardt hit the ball long on set point.

The visitors would pull away slowly throughout the final frame, outhitting UAA .306 to .028 despite four kills by Blue.

Evans finished with seven kills on .333 hitting and four block assists, while Osborne and fellow junior setter Makana Eleneki produced 15 assists apiece. Junior libero Reilly Plumhoff led UAA with 12 digs.

The Seawolves return to the road this week to face nationally ranked Seattle Pacific on Saturday (6 pm ADT) and Montana State Billings on Saturday (11 am ADT), with live video and stats links available at GoSeawolves.com.