HONOLULU (Aug. 30) – Senior outside hitters Katie Birtcil-Tipton and Bethany Tuchardt combined for 29 kills, but the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team could not hold off a late Hawaii-Hilo comeback Friday,  falling 21-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-11 in the finale of the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge at the Shark Tank.

The Seawolves (1-2) got 15 kills, 18 digs and three aces from Birtcil-Tipton, while Tuchardt finished with 14 kills on .345 hitting. Senior setter Kadyn Osborne collected with 28 assists and 10 digs in a match that was virtually tied statistically.

The Vulcans (2-0) were led by 18 kills on .364 hitting from Samara Cruz and 17 kills, 12 digs from Taylor Tullos as they outhit the Seawolves in each of the last three sets.

Tuchardt delivered five kills on seven attacks in the opening frame to help UAA hit .424, getting 11 assists from Osborne.

After notching set point in the first, Birtcil-Tipton stemmed a late Hilo push in the second with a pinpoint back-row attack just inside the line that made it 24-21. Junior outside hitter Tia Allen finished off the second set with one of her eight kills, but UAA could not sustain its momentum.

The Seawolves seemed to recover from their third-set loss when Birtcil-Tipton served three straight aces during an 8-1 surge that made it 16-10 in the fourth. Two straight kills by Cruz and two straight blocks by Isabella Freeman and Chloe Culanding drew the Vulcans within 17-16, however, and the Pac West squad would snap a 22-22 deadlock with a 3-0 run to send it the distance.

Early fifth-set leads of 3-0 and 4-2 were not enough to stop Hilo's momentum in the fifth set, with the Vulcans pulling ahead 11-8 on a kill by Culanding and consecutive aces by Madelyn Blandford.

Sophomore Bella Burney matched her career-high .500 attack percentage with seven kills and just one error on 12 swings, while junior rightside hitter Larssen Anderson added seven kills and a career-high four aces.

Junior libero Madison Galloway had 11 digs, and Allen added 10 digs, while senior middle blocker Leilani Elder led UAA with three blocks.

The Seawolves are back in action Sept. 6-7 at the Augustana Invitational in Sioux Falls, S.D., facing Northwest Missouri State in their opening match at 8:15 a.m. ADT Friday. Find links to live video and stats at GoSeawolves.com.