HILO, Hawaii (Aug. 22) – Senior outside hitter
Lee Ivakina blasted 14 kills on career-best .462 hitting as the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team claimed a 25-22, 25-13, 25-22 sweep of Chaminade on Saturday at the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.
The Seawolves (2-2) also got six kills on .500 hitting, six blocks and two aces from junior middle blocker
Martina Riba, helping them avenge Thursday's 3-0 loss to Chaminade.
The Silverswords (1-2) – picked No. 2 in the Pacific West Conference preseason poll – were led by 15 kills from Lillie Hinton, but the Honolulu squad was outhit .357 to .121 and outblocked 11-0.
"Our players did a fantastic job of making the proper adjustments after our first loss on Thursday, and it paid off with a great win," said UAA coach
Morgan Hooe. "Lee and the rest of our hitters were able to find the holes in their defense, and our overall offensive balance continued to pay dividends. We're excited to get home and play in front of our home fans next week."
After notching just five kills in Thursday's setback, Ivakina ripped four kills in a tight opening frame in the rematch, including one to extend the lead to 23-21. Sophomore libero
Mary Nahinu (17 digs) followed with an ace, and Ivakina finished it off on a feed from
Hannah Trotter (15 assists/9 digs) two points later.
UAA trailed 9-8 early in the second set before catching fire. Riba and junior
Emma Beck (4 block assists) capped a 7-1 surge with a block of Hinton to make it 15-10, and UAA finished the set on a 17-4 run. Ivakina had four kills on as many swings in the second, along with a pair of block assists.
The Seawolves trailed 7-3 early in the third, but utilized Chaminade attack errors to tie it at 11 and finally take the lead at 17-16. Kills by Reina Krueger tied it for the Silverswords at 20-20 and 22-22, prompting a timeout from Hooe. The first-year head coach saw her team respond with kills from three different players on the next three points, with Ivakina,
Trinity Byrne (4 kills, .571, 2 block assists) and Riba doing the honors.
A returning All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference performer, Ivakina's .462 hitting was 73 points higher than her previous best, while Riba reached the .500 mark for the second day in a row (6-0-9, .667 vs Hawaii Pacific on Friday).
UAA also got a career-high 16 assists from junior setter
Anna McWhorter, along with five kills apiece from
Bella Burney and
Kyana Gabriel.
The Seawolves make their Alaska Airlines Center debut next week with three matches in the Seawolf Invitational. UAA opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against Texas Woman's. Find tickets, live links and more at GoSeawolves.com.
