OLYMPIA, Wash. (Oct. 10) – Setter
Hannah Trotter had 34 assists and fellow senior
Bella Burney played hometown hero with 12 kills Saturday, propelling the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team to a 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 victory over Saint Martin's at Costantino Recreation Center.
The Seawolves (13-6, 6-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 11 kills and 12 digs from senior outside hitter
Lee Ivakina as they made it six straight and 35 wins in the last 36 matches against the Saints.
The Saints (7-10, 3-6) – who were coming off back-to-back upsets over Western Washington and Alaska Fairbanks – were led by 24 assists and 16 digs from setter Sophie Fast.
"We played well again in spurts and showed great maturity after Saint Martin's made a nice run in the third," said UAA head coach
Morgan Hooe, whose team won all nine sets on its three-match road trip. "I'm really happy for Bella to have another great performance in front of her friends and family, and we're excited to get home and host two huge home matches next week."
UAA claimed the opening set despite hitting just .132. Playing just 15 minutes from her former high school gym in Tumwater, Burney had three kills on five swings in the frame, and she finished the day with .579 hitting on 19 attempts.
The second set featured 10 ties and multiple momentum changes. After going up 13-10 on a
Kyana Gabriel kill, the Seawolves watched the Saints go on a 10-2 run behind a pair of kills from Garten.
Martina Riba and Ivakina stopped the bleeding with consecutive kills, though, starting a set-winning surge for the visitors.
Emma Beck had one of her seven kills to make it 20-20, and Burney notched the go-ahead and set-point kills to claim a 2-0 lead.
The Seawolves scored nine straight points behind Ivakina's serve to claim a 14-4 lead in set three, but the Saints would not roll over, answering with a 13-3 run to tie it. UAA never fell behind, however, as Ivakina smashed a kill off the Saints block to snap the deadlock, and Trotter increased the lead to 23-19 with one of her six kills. Ivakina made it 24-19 with an ace, and sophomore
Trinity Byrne finished it off on a feed from Trotter on the second try at match point.
Trotter hit a career-best .857 (6-0-7) on the day, along with seven digs, while Burney hit .500 or better for the sixth time this season.
Gabriel had seven kills and nine digs, and sophomore libero
Mary Nahinu made 11 digs.
UAA improved to 47-5 all-time against Saint Martin's, winning 106 of the last 122 sets since 2008.
The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center for two special theme nights this week, hosting Northwest Nazarene on Thursday (7 pm) and nationally ranked Central Washington on Saturday (7 pm). Thursday's match is Pink Night, presented by Aurora Integrated Oncology Foundation, while Saturday is Pack-the-House 'Green Out', presented by Premera. All
tickets Saturday are $5, with multiple giveaways and promotions planned.
