LACEY, Wash. (Oct. 23) – Alaska Anchorage senior Tia Allen and junior Bella Burney each delivered career-best efforts in a familiar setting Thursday, helping the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team survive a Saint Martin's upset bid, 25-18, 25-17, 25-27, 19-25, 15-7, at Marcus Pavilion.

An outside hitter who played her first two collegiate seasons with the Saints, Allen connected for a career-high 23 kills on .447 hitting as the Seawolves (16-4, 7-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) dominated the decisive fifth set.

Meanwhile, Burney tied her career high with 13 kills as the middle blocker from nearby Tumwater – just seven miles away – hit a match-best .478 and added five block assists.

The Saints (11-7, 4-6) were led by 21 kills from outside hitter Emily Garten, fighting off two match points in the third set to send it the distance.

"That was another nice test to pass tonight against a good opponent in a tough road environment," said UAA coach Stacie Meisner, whose team kept pace just one match behind the GNAC co-leaders with the victory. "Tia and Bella stepped up and were really productive for us offensively, and our defense and setters did a good job putting them in positions to execute."

Aiming for their 34th win in the last 35 series meetings with SMU and a second straight season sweep, the Seawolves looked dominant in the first two sets. UAA got a combined 15 kills on .500 hitting from Allen and Burney in those frames, and controlled the early stages of set 3 before things got tight.

Most of the drama occurred in the third, with 12 ties and four lead changes. Junior outside hitter Lee Ivakina had a block assist and a kill to help UAA gain match points at 24-23 and 25-24, but Garten answered each time with a kill off the Seawolf block. The Saints continued with a block of Ivakina and took the set on another UAA hitting error.

SMU controlled a fourth set that saw both teams struggle offensively, but UAA responded with a wire-to-wire lead in the final set.

Sparked by an early block from Ivakina and Martina Riba, the Seawolves earned a 6-3 edge and made it 8-4 on back-to-back kills from Allen. The UAA offense was virtually unstoppable in the fifth, hitting .571 and earning nine of its final 10 points via kills.

In her 104th career match, Allen finally surpassed her previous high of 21 kills, set twice during her freshman (2021) and sophomore (2022) seasons with the Saints. Her .447 hitting was the second-best mark of her career and her best in a GNAC match, while she also made 12 digs and went 36 of 36 in serve-receive.

Burney equaled her high of 13 kills from a five-set road victory last month at Seattle Pacific, delivering a plus-.300 attack percentage for the eighth time in 10 league matches.

Ivakina had 14 kills, 11 digs, five block assists and went 27 of 27 in serve-receive, while Riba led the way with seven block assists and three aces.

Senior libero Madison Galloway made a match-high 16 digs, and freshman Emma Beck added eight kills. Freshman setter Johana Malikova dished 42 assists, and sophomore Hannah Trotter collected 11 assists.

The Seawolves finish their road trip Saturday at noon ADT against Western Oregon in Monmouth, Ore. Find live video ($) and stats links at GoSeawolves.com.