ANCHORAGE (Aug. 31) – Bethany Tuchardt ripped 14 kills and Isabel Evans had a career-high 11 kills Thursday to lead the 14th-ranked Alaska Anchorage volleyball team to a 15-25, 25-13, 14-25, 25-13, 15-13 victory over Upper Iowa in its home opener in the Seawolf Invitational.

The Seawolves (2-3) also got 10 kills and 14 digs from senior outside hitter Nicole Blue as they ran their Alaska Airlines Center win streak to 16 in a row, dating back to the 2021 campaign.

The Peacocks (1-1) were led by 14 kills on .357 hitting by Zoe Semelroth, while setter Nicole Pozorski had seven kills on .538 hitting and 35 assists in their second match of the day. The visitors from Fayette, Iowa, defeated Cal Poly Humboldt 3-1 to start the tournament.

"We need to strive for more consistency, obviously, but I loved our grit again tonight, and Isabel really stepped up and made some huge plays, especially in the fourth and fifth sets," said UAA's Stacie Meisner, who claimed her first home head-coaching victory.

After getting outhit .522 to .162 in the opening frame, UAA flipped the script in the second, outhitting the Peacocks .385 to .069. Tuchardt picked up three kills in that set as the Highline (Wash.) College transfer finished with her most kills as a Seawolf.

Upper Iowa seemed to take control again with a dominating .310 to .030 hitting advantage in the third, but the pattern held in the fourth as UAA ran away behind a .500 to .000 difference.

The fifth would be the only close set, featuring nine ties and five lead changes. Trailing 9-8, UAA got aces from libero Madison Galloway and defensive specialist Sydney Johnson during a 5-1 surge. The Peacocks used a timeout to stem the momentum, however, and answered with two kills and a UAA attack error to knot it 13-13. Meisner would make good use of a timeout as well, though, and Evans smashed a kill off the block on the right side, followed by an attack error by Semelroth on match point.

Makana Eleneki collected 21 assists, three kills and 13 digs, while fellow junior setter Kadyn Osborne had 20 assists and three kills in UAA's '6-2' offensive attack. Evans and Leilani Elder led the Seawolves with three block assists apiece.

The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center for a Friday 7 p.m. ADT showdown with No. 7 St. Cloud State (1-0). Surf to GoSeawolves.com for tickets and live coverage.