ANCHORAGE (Aug. 27) – Alaska Anchorage outside hitters
Lee Ivakina and
Kyana Gabriel combined for 30 kills and 37 digs Thursday to help their team overcome an early hiccup, recording a 19-25, 25-12, 25-13, 25-21 volleyball victory over Texas Woman's in the Seawolf Invitational at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (3-2) also got 44 assists and 19 digs from senior setter
Hannah Trotter as they outhit the visitors .286 to .040 over the final three sets in their home opener.
The Pioneers (0-2) were led by 11 kills and 11 digs from outside hitter Mary Grace King.
"We let them be the aggressor in the first set, but we made great adjustments and really came out firing on all cylinders in the second," said UAA head coach
Morgan Hooe. "It's good to get that first home win out of the way as we'll have to refocus for a very talented Lenoir-Rhyne team tomorrow night."
Looking for their third straight win, the Seawolves got off to a shaky start by allowing .419 hitting to their Lone Star Conference foe in the opening set. King hit .412 (7-0-17) in the frame as the Pioneers pulled away with a 9-4 run.
UAA recovered immediately, though, scoring the first 11 points of the second set behind the serve of Gabriel, who finished with 14 kills, two aces, 19 digs and two blocks. The Seawolves made it 16-1 on a kill by
Martina Riba (8 kills, 3 aces, 3 block assists) and 18-4 on a kill by Gabriel, on their way to tying the match.
Leading 9-7 in the third, back-to-back kills from Gabriel and
Bella Burney would help UAA get some distance, while Ivakina picked up seven of her kills in that set.
The fourth set was the most competitive, featuring 13 ties and eight lead changes before UAA snapped a 17-17 deadlock. Riba had two kills during the tiebreaking 4-0 run, and Gabriel finished it off on a feed from Trotter on match point.
Trotter came just one dig and four assists shy of her career bests in those categories, while Burney collected 11 kills on .500 hitting.
Ivakina earned her first double-double of the season after posting 15 last year, with the All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference performer notching 16 kills and 18 digs. Gabriel, a junior transfer, posted her second double-double as a Seawolf.
Sophomore libero
Mary Nahinu added 18 digs in her first UAA home match, and junior rightside hitter
Emma Beck had seven kills and three block assists.
UAA returns to the Alaska Airlines Center to face fellow 2025 NCAA Tournament squad Lenoir-Rhyne (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Find tickets, live links and more at GoSeawolves.com.
