ANCHORAGE (Oct. 15) – Junior outside hitter
Kyana Gabriel ripped 14 kills and senior setter
Hannah Trotter dished 30 assists to lead hot-hitting Alaska Anchorage to a 25-18, 25-17, 25-20 volleyball victory over Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (14-6, 7-3 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got nine kills and six total blocks from reigning GNAC Defensive Player of the Week
Bella Burney, along with seven kills and a match-high 12 digs from
Lee Ivakina. UAA outhit the visitors .300 to .138 and outblocked them 10-4 to secure its fourth consecutive sweep.
The Nighthawks (10-7, 4-6) were led by 11 kills from outside hitter Tatum Swapp and 10 digs from libero Kayci Spray.
"We did some of our best serving tonight, which helped keep NNU out of balance offensively," said UAA head coach
Morgan Hooe, whose team registered 10 aces. "Hannah did a nice job again spreading the ball around, with four of our five primary attackers hitting over .300 tonight."
After losing to NNU in four sets last month in Idaho, UAA took control early in the rematch and never relented. Tied 3-3 in the opening set, Burney slammed a kill,
Martina Riba served an ace and Ivakina provided another kill, giving the Seawolves the lead for good. Gabriel registered three kills during a 6-0 run that stretched the lead to 17-10, and Burney finished things off with two kills in the final four rallies.
UAA never trailed in sets two and three, starting the second with kills from four different players to grab a 5-1 advantage.
Emma Beck extended the lead to 15-8 with one of her five kills, and the visitors from Nampa, Idaho, could get no closer than a five-point spread from there.
NNU kept the third set competitive when Hailey Cheney's kill made it 19-15 in the late going, but Burney responded with back-to-back kills and combined with Trotter on a block of Nighthawks leading hitter Abby Black. The Nighthawks crept within 23-20 before serving long on the next point, and Beck converted on UAA's first try at match point.
Gabriel hit .346, along with two aces and five digs, while Beck hit an errorless .455. Riba had four kills on errorless .364 hitting, and Burney hit .333 and tied her season high in total blocks.
Sophomore libero
Mary Nahinu chipped in three aces and three assists, and Trotter made five block assists to tie her career high.
The Seawolves return to the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday (7 pm) to face No. 21 Central Washington in their Pack-the-House 'Green Out' match, presented by Premera. Promotions for the match, presented by
Premera, include:
- All general admission tickets $5; reserved $8
- Best-dressed fans in green (one child, one adult) earn a chance to win a round-trip ticket on Alaska Airlines
- Foam fingers (first 1,000 attendees), Cherry Coke (first 500) and Raising Cane's (first 400) giveaways
- UAA Alumni Night (UAA alumni get one free ticket and up to three tickets for $5 each with code ALUMNI2627)
- UAA School of Education Night (UAA, ASD and MSBSD faculty and staff get one free ticket and up to three tickets for $5 each with code EDUCATOR2627)
