FAIRBANKS, Alaska (Sept. 4) –
Lee Ivakina blasted 15 kills and fellow outside hitter
Kyana Gabriel served half of Alaska Anchorage's 12 aces Friday as the Seawolves rolled to a 25-18, 25-9, 25-19 volleyball sweep of Tiffin in the Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic at the Patty Center.
Coming off a straight-sets win earlier in the day over Minnesota State, the Seawolves (7-2) also got eight kills from Gabriel, along with four kills and four blocks from rightside hitter
Emma Beck, and four kills and three aces from middle blocker
Martina Riba.
The Dragons (0-6) were led by 11 kills from Amber Czerniak, but the Ohio squad was outhit .345 to .107 and outblocked 10-3.
"I was really pleased with our execution and focus in both matches today," said UAA head coach
Morgan Hooe, whose team has won 21 of 23 sets since losing its first two contests. "We're excited to end our non-conference season with a huge challenge tomorrow (11 a.m. Saturday vs No. 9 Fresno Pacific) against a top-10 team."
Ivakina had five of her kills in the opening set to help UAA to an errorless frame. Riba and Gabriel snapped a 7-7 tie with consecutive kills, and the Seawolves pushed their largest edge to 20-13 on a smash by Ivakina.
UAA asserted its dominance in the second with nine aces, topping its previous season high for a match in one set. Gabriel served five aces during a 14-0 run that made it a 15-2 score, and she added another later in the set. The Hawaiian's six aces tied for fourth-most by a Seawolf in a match, while her eight kills came on .500 hitting.
Senior setter
Hannah Trotter dished nine of her 22 assists in the final as the Seawolves led comfortably most of the way.
Sophomore libero
Mary Nahinu led UAA with nine digs, and senior middle blocker
Bella Burney collected five total blocks in less than two full sets played.
MATCH 1: UAA 3, Minnesota State 0
Junior outside hitter
Kyana Gabriel had nine kills to power a balanced Seawolves squad to a 25-22, 25-23, 25-14 sweep of the Mavericks (1-5) in their first match of the day Friday at the Ice Block Classic.
Gabriel's .692 hitting percentage ranked top-20 on UAA single-match list as the Seawolves got at least five kills from six different players, outhitting the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference team .360 to .137.
UAA made major comebacks to take the first two sets, rallying from down 22-19 in the first and 21-16 in the second.
Junior rightside hitter
Emma Beck smashed consecutive kills to lead the winning charge in the opening frame, tying it at 22-22 and forcing an MSU timeout. After a Maverick attack error gave UAA the lead, Beck delivered again for a 24-22 edge, and MSU hit into the net on set point.
In the second, senior setter
Hannah Trotter (31 assists, 5 kills, .444) got the deciding run rolling with a kill and
Lee Ivakina (9 kills) had back-to-back aces during a 5-0 run to make it 21-21. Knotted at 23-23, Gabriel gave the Seawolves the lead, and senior
Bella Burney (7 kills) led a double-block of MSU's Addison Foor to claim the set.
The third set started as another close one, tied 7-7 and featuring a 12-11 UAA lead midway through. Things would end quickly, though, as the Seawolves closed with a 13-3 run that featured kills from Trotter and all five primary attackers. Two of MSU's points during the closing blitz came on Seawolf service errors, and even libero
Mary Nahinu got into offense with a kill during the set.
Nahinu led UAA with 11 digs, while junior middle blocker
Martina Riba had six kills on .417 hitting, and Beck had six kills on .333 hitting and three block assists.
