BELLINGHAM, Wash. (Oct. 24) – Senior setter
Hannah Trotter produced another huge all-around effort and outside hitter
Lee Ivakina delivered 16 kills, including seven in the final set, to help the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team to a 25-20, 25-21, 19-25, 25-23 victory over Western Washington at Carver Gymnasium on Saturday.
The Seawolves (16-7, 9-4 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) got 35 assists, 12 digs, five kills and four block assists from Trotter, who piloted UAA to its first season sweep of WWU since 2022. Ivakina added 11 digs,
Kyana Gabriel had 13 kills and 10 digs, and
Martina Riba delivered five blocks and six kills on .462 hitting as UAA held the hosts to a .167 team attack percentage.
The Vikings (9-9, 6-6) got match highs of 18 kills and 17 digs from outside hitter Delaney Speer, but their comeback attempt fell short in a dramatic fourth set.
"We played with much more urgency out of the gate tonight and were able to get Western out of their comfort zone in the first two sets," said UAA head coach
Morgan Hooe, whose team forged a reverse sweep victory Thursday at No. 21 Simon Fraser. "The fourth set had some especially high-level defensive plays for both teams, and I'm thrilled with the way we kept focus and executed at the end. We're excited to get back home and hopefully have another huge crowd Friday against UAF."
Looking for their first three-match win streak in the series since 2009-10, the Seawolves opened with a 5-0 run and never trailed in set one. Junior rightside hitter
Emma Beck notched four of her seven kills in the frame, while sophomore libero
Mary Nahinu had six of her team-high 16 digs and three of her five assists.
Trailing 10-6 in set two, UAA turned things around with consecutive kills from
Bella Burney (7 kills/5 total blocks) and Gabriel, and took the lead for good when Ivakina and Riba stuffed WWU's Emily Vossenkuhl to make it 16-15. The Vikings used a 3-0 run to pull within 23-21 at the end, before a long serve and a kill by Gabriel clinched a 2-0 Seawolf advantage.
WWU led from start to finish in the third, setting up a fourth set that featured eight ties and a pair of lead changes.
UAA took the largest lead of the fourth at 14-8 when
Elena Hansen converted an ace, but the Vikings would win eight of the next nine rallies and surge ahead 17-16 on a kill from Speer. The teams were tied at each stage between 16-16 and 23-23, with another Speer kill causing the final deadlock. The Seawolves finally got the two straight points they needed when Ivakina slammed a kill into the middle of the court, and
Trinity Byrne finished a marathon rally by banging the ball off the Viking block and out of bounds for the clincher.
Hansen finished with 12 digs, five assists and a season-best four aces.
UAA returns to the Alaska Airlines Center on Friday at 7 p.m., facing rival Alaska Fairbanks on Trick-or-Treat With the Seawolves night, presented by GCI. Youth 18-and-under in costume receive free admission with an accompanying adult ticket purchase.
