ANCHORAGE (Sept. 12) –
Hannah Trotter dished 37 assists and fellow seniors
Lee Ivakina and
Bella Burney combined for 25 kills Saturday to power Alaska Anchorage to a 25-23, 25-11, 25-22 volleyball victory over Montana State Billings at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves (9-3, 2-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) got 14 kills from Ivakina, 11 kills from Burney and a career-high-tying nine kills from sophomore
Trinity Byrne as they outhit the visitors .302 to .176, improving to 5-0 at home.
The Yellowjackets (2-8, 0-2) were led by Allie Dorman's 13 kills.
"We weren't at our sharpest in the first and third sets against a much-improved Billings team, but we found a way to get the job done," said UAA head coach
Morgan Hooe. "Things only get tougher when we hit the road next week, and we'll look forward to the challenge."
Looking for their 11th straight sweep of Billings since the pandemic, the Seawolves had to fight through a first set that saw 17 ties and three lead changes. After ties at each stage between 13-13 and 21-21, UAA finally took a two-point edge on consecutive kills from
Martina Riba and Byrne. Another Byrne kill made it 24-22 before Dorman answered with her 10th kill of the frame, but the 'Jackets could not repel a second set point, with Trotter feeding Byrne for the clincher.
Ivakina propelled an early 7-0 run in the second set to help UAA outhit Billings .600 to .087 in that frame. The Bulgarian had six kills in the second, while Burney notched four kills on five swings.
The Seawolves never trailed in the third, although the Yellowjackets certainly did not go down easily. Billings shaved a 23-17 deficit to 23-22 as Emma Fairbairn ripped four kills during the surge, but a service error stopped the visitors' momentum, and Ivakina closed it by converting a rare assist from rightside hitter
Emma Beck.
Burney hit .381, Byrne hit .350 and Riba had seven kills on .583 hitting as UAA topped the .300 plateau for the fifth time this year.
Trotter added 11 digs and a pair of block assists, while sophomore libero
Mary Nahinu made a match-high 15 digs.
The Seawolves have won 30 of the last 31 meetings with Billings, extending their current streak to 15 matches and improving to 62-11 against their second-most frequent opponent.
UAA plays its first GNAC road matches of 2026 next week, visiting No. 20 Central Washington on Thursday (6 pm ADT) and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday (11 am ADT). Find live video and stats links at GoSeawolves.com.
