ANCHORAGE (Aug. 28) – Middle blocker
Bella Burney launched a career-high 16 kills and fellow senior
Lee Ivakina had 18 kills and 13 digs Friday to power the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team to a 25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 25-20 win over Lenoir Rhyne in the Seawolf Invitational at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Senior setter
Hannah Trotter collected 34 assists and 15 digs in her team's fourth straight win, helping the Seawolves (4-2) hit .400 in the second and fourth sets.
The Bears (2-1) were led by 15 kills from Emmaleigh Allen and 20 digs from Avery Meide, but the visitors from North Carolina could not pull off their second win of the day, following a 5-set victory over Chico State.
"I loved our resiliency at the end of the fourth set after they tied it," said UAA head coach
Morgan Hooe. "We continued to display a lot of grit when things got tough, and Bella showed off her tremendous swing tonight. Hopefully we can keep it rolling against a much-improved Chico team tomorrow."
Facing a fellow 2025 NCAA Tournament qualifier for the first time this year, the Seawolves found themselves in a tight opening frame that featured 10 ties and no lead larger than four points for either side. UAA took that four-point lead when Ivakina finished a feed from
Mary Nahinu to make it 24-20, but the Bears rallied for the next three tallies. Following a UAA timeout, Ivakina delivered a first-ball kill to clinch the set.
The Seawolves snapped an 11-11 tie in the second with a 5-0 run that featured two Ivakina kills, and the hosts pulled away as Burney converted on set point.
Lenoir-Rhyne controlled the third, outhitting UAA .289 to .135 to stay alive, and the fourth set turned into another tight one, with 17 ties and nine lead changes.
After being tied at each stage from 13-13 to 19-19, the Seawolves took the lead for good when Nahinu dished to
Kyana Gabriel (7 kills, 7 digs, 3 blocks) for a back-row kill, and Burney launched a kill from Trotter to force a Bears timeout. Allen answered with a kill for the South Atlantic Conference club, but Burney and
Martina Riba sandwiched kills around an LRU attack error, and Nahinu finished things with an ace.
Riba had seven kills on .429 hitting and three block assists, while Trotter recorded a career-high seven kills on .462 hitting.
Emma Beck added five kills and a career-high five digs, and Nahinu had eight digs, seven assists and three aces.
UAA concludes its Seawolf Invitational weekend with a 5 p.m. Saturday first serve against Chico State at the Alaska Airlines Center. Find tickets, live links and more at GoSeawolves.com.
