ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Senior outside hitter
Lee Ivakina had nine kills to aid a third-set comeback for Alaska Anchorage, but Central Washington held on for 25-13, 25-15, 26-24 sweep in a battle of Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball contenders Thursday at Nicholson Pavilion.
The Seawolves (9-4, 2-1 GNAC) also got six kills from senior middle blocker and
Bella Burney and 14 digs from sophomore libero
Mary Nahinu, but were outhit .319 to .128 and outdug 61-48.
The Wildcats (5-4, 1-2 GNAC) were led by 17 kills from outside hitter Ellie Marble and 18 digs from Brooklyn Barrow, avenging a pair of losses to the Seawolves last year.
Playing the first of six matches against fellow 2025 GNAC co-champions, UAA could not get untracked in either of the first two sets, falling behind 11-5 in the first and 20-11 in the second.
The Seawolves showed a gutsy comeback in the third set, rallying from down 21-13 and 23-18 to send it to extra points.
Emma Beck had her second kill during the run to make it 23-22, and Burney slammed a kill for a 24-24 tie. Marble's final kill put the Wildcats back ahead, though, and Addie Allen ended it with an ace.
Junior setter
Anna McWhorter came off the bench with 12 assists and five digs in two sets, while Buney led the team with a .455 attack percentage.
The Seawolves complete their first GNAC road trip of the year with a Saturday (11 a.m. ADT) contest at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho. Find live links at GoSeawolves.com.
