FAIRBANKS, Alaska (Sept. 7) – Bethany Tuchardt led a balanced attack with nine kills and six block assists Thursday to help No. 21 Alaska Anchorage begin defense of its Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball title with a 25-14, 25-20, 25-17 sweep of Alaska Fairbanks at the Patty Center.

The Seawolves (5-4, 1-0 GNAC) also got seven kills and eight block assists from junior middle blocker Isabel Evans as they claimed their third straight win over UAF and 20th in their last 21 GNAC matches.

The Nanooks (2-7, 0-1) got six kills apiece from Kristina Head and Karli Nielson, but the hosts committed 27 attack errors and were outblocked 10-4 and outdug 46-36. UAA held UAF to a -.040 attack percentage, marking its second-best defensive effort in a GNAC match since the league's founding in 2001.

"I think we did a nice job of taking them out of rhythm, and we never gave them any sort of big run that could swing the momentum and get their crowd going," said UAA's Stacie Meisner, who picked up her first GNAC coaching win. "Offensively we had great balance as well, and Bella Burney stepped in and gave us the big lift that we knew she was capable of providing."

A true freshman from Tumwater, Wash., Burney slammed eight kills on .333 hitting, while senior outside hitter Nicole Blue had six kills and eight digs.

UAA controlled action from start to finish, taking a 5-4 advantage on a block by Evans and Kadyn Osborne in the first set and slowly pulling away. The Seawolves never trailed in the second frame as Evans followed a pair of late UAA timeouts with run-stopping kills, including on set point.

The Nanooks grabbed an early 6-4 lead in the third and stayed within a 16-15 deficit on a kill by Elizabeth Jackson, but the Seawolves responded with a kill by Osborne, consecutive blocks by Tuchardt and Evans, and two straight aces by Blue to retake control.

Osborne finished with 16 assists, three block assists and two kills on just three swings, while junior libero Reilly Plumhoff made a team-high 11 digs.

UAA returns to non-conference action Friday when it faces Lander (4-2) at the Patty Center at 4 p.m. Surf to GoSeawolves.com for live video and stats links.