ANCHORAGE (Oct. 30) – Senior outside hitter
Lee Ivakina ripped 19 kills, including six in the fifth set, to propel the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team to a 19-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-23, 16-14 comeback victory over Alaska Fairbanks on Friday night at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (17-7, 10-4 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 36 assists, 16 digs and six kills on .500 hitting from senior setter
Hannah Trotter as they remained alive in the GNAC title hunt and swept the season series from their in-state rivals.
The Nanooks (11-13, 3-11) were led by 14 kills, 25 assists and 13 digs from Cynphany Hendreson and 26 digs from senior libero Tessa Onaga.
"We didn't play our best tonight, but we played with as much fire as we have all year and earned a gutsy win over a Fairbanks team that came in extremely hungry," said UAA head coach
Morgan Hooe. "Even when we trailed late in the fifth, we kept our composure and got some huge digs and great passing to somehow find a way."
Trying to snap a seven-match losing skid, UAF looked nothing like a ninth-place team in the opening set, outhitting UAA .219 to .032 to grab the early advantage.
The Seawolves responded with .312 hitting the set two, using a 4-0 run midway through the action to take control. UAF stayed within 22-19 in the late going, before an Ivakina kill and a
Mary Nahinu ace finished the frame.
UAA led 18-15 in the third when Ivakina converted a pass from
Anna McWhorter, only to see UAF end the set with a 10-2 run and go ahead two sets to one.
The Seawolves controlled set four most of the way, scoring six straight points to go up 12-6 and taking a 22-16 edge on a kill from
Emma Beck. Beck gave UAA set point at 24-19 with another kill, before the Nanooks used the dangerous jump serve of Haylee Lyons to pull within 24-23. Ivakina came through in crunchtime again, however, converting an assist from Trotter to send it the distance.
The fifth saw eight ties and a pair of lead changes as UAA watched a 5-2 lead evaporate into a 10-8 deficit. Audry Smith put UAF ahead 11-9 with a kill, and the Nanooks led 12-11 and 13-12 before the Seawolves responded with consecutive kills from Ivakina. After UAF middle blocker Presley Engelauf earned the final tie at 14-14 with her ninth kill, Ivakina banged a kill to give UAA another match point, and UAF's Lucy Braegger hit long on the ensuing rally to end it.
Ivakina hit .522 over the final three sets and finished with 13 digs, earning her 11th double-double, while junior outside hitter
Kyana Gabriel recorded her eighth double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs.
Beck was in double figures again with 10 kills on .267 hitting, and junior middle blocker
Martina Riba notched seven kills. Senior middle blocker
Bella Burney led the match with five total blocks, and senior libero
Elena Hansen tied her career high with six assists.
With four total matches remaining, the Seawolves end their home campaign next week against Saint Martin's on Thursday (7 pm) and Western Oregon on Saturday (7 pm). Find tickets, live inks and more at GoSeawolves.com.
