ANCHORAGE (Nov. 5) –
Lee Ivakina blasted 21 kills and the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team got a big lift from its bench Thursday to forge a 20-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-12, 15-13 comeback victory over Saint Martin's at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (18-7, 11-4 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got 13 kills apiece from pin hitters
Emma Beck and
Trinity Byrne as they outhit the visitors from Washington .313 to .195 and outdug them 75-58.
The Saints (8-16, 4-12) were led by 19 kills from Olivia Bassett and 17 kills, 10 digs and six aces from Emily Garten, but could not hold on to a late lead in the final set.
"We were out of sorts for the first two sets and Saint Martin's did well taking advantage of our errors," said UAA head coach
Morgan Hooe, whose team remains one match behind Seattle Pacific and Simon Fraser for second place in the GNAC standings. "Fortunately our defense and passing improved after that, and we got clutch performances from some players who haven't played a lot – Trinity,
Patri Ferran,
Anna McWhorter,
Alex Gonzalez-Orozco – in order to get it done."
Coming off a 3-2 (16-14) victory in their last outing against Alaska Fairbanks and needing a win to stay afloat in the NCAA playoff race, the Seawolves fell behind early in the opening set against the Saints, who they swept last month on the road.
Saint Martin's took advantage of 11 UAA service errors through the first two sets and served all seven its aces in that span, pulling away early in each frame.
The Seawolves corrected course in the third, though, getting six kills on eight swings from Ivakina and three kills from Beck, who gave the hosts the lead at 14-13. That play sparked a 7-0 run capped by back-to-back kills from Ivakina, and Byrne closed it with a smash off the Saints' block.
Byrne continued to find her groove in the fourth set as the Idaho native accounted for six of her career-high 13 kills, lifting the Seawolves to a .400 to .059 hitting advantage.
The fifth would be the most competitive frame after UAA erased an early 6-3 hole, earning a tie at 7-7 and its first lead at 10-9 on a Byrne kill. The Saints would respond forcefully, using kills from Garten and Zoey Crimin to take a 12-10 advantage and prompt UAA's final timeout.
Senior setter
Hannah Trotter fed Beck for kills on the next two points, and despite hitting into a block on the next rally, Ivakina recovered to force the final tie at 13-13. Saint Martin's had an opportunity to retake the lead when Hanna Ligons got a middle-of-the-net set, but UAA senior
Bella Burney went high for a solo block to turn the tables. Following a Saints timeout, the Seawolves converted an out-of-system play to claim match point on a feed from
Mary Nahinu to Ivakina, who slammed an attack off the block and out of bounds.
Ivakina committed just four attack errors on her way to career-high .500 hitting, while topping the 20-kill plateau for the second time this season. She also added 10 digs to record her 12th double-double of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Beck missed her career high by just one kill, connecting at a .296 clip, and Byrne topped her previous best by three kills. Ferran, a freshman from Spain who had played in only 13 sets before Thursday, collected seven kills on .312 hitting, and Burney added seven kills on .583 hitting.
Trotter finished with 31 assists and a team-high 14 digs, while McWhorter recorded career highs of 17 assists and six digs.
Senior libero
Elena Hansen had 13 digs and a career-high seven assists, and Gonzalez-Orozco doubled her previous high with eight digs, while going 18 of 18 in serve receive.
The result was the second 'reverse sweep' for UAA in the last four matches, after not achieving that feat once in the previous three seasons.
UAA improved to 48-5 all-time against the Saints, including a 24-1 mark in Anchorage.
The Seawolves close their home season Saturday with a 7:15 pm first serve against Western Oregon (9-15, 5-11) at the Alaska Airlines Center. Find tickets, live links and more at GoSeawolves.com.
