Seawolves flatten Gorillas in three, improve to 7-0

ANCHORAGE (Aug. 27) – Senior rightside hitter Eve Stephens delivered 18 kills on just 29 attacks Saturday to help the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team remain undefeated with a 25-15, 25-16, 25-20 sweep of Pittsburg State in the final match of the Seawolf Invitational at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Fellow senior and tournament co-Most Outstanding Player Ellen Floyd tallied 39 assists and 10 digs in the win, while outside hitters Lisa Jaunet and Nicole Blue had nine kills apiece for the Seawolves (7-0).

The Gorillas (1-3) were led by seven kills and eight digs from all-tourney selection Janae Thurston, but the visitors from Kansas were outhit .327 to .136.

“This group really seems to be coming together quickly,” said UAA head coach Chris Green, whose team is off to its best start since winning the first 14 matches of the 2015 campaign. “Eve and Ellen are playing at All-American levels again, and our primary passers are doing a terrific job of getting our offense rolling. We are excited to see what we can accomplish next week with four big matches to close out the non-conference portion of our schedule.”

After rallying from a two-set deficit to beat Point Loma on Friday night, the Seawolves took control early against the Gorillas, hitting .405 in the opening set and .484 in the second frame.

The visitors from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association created some drama late in the third set when they pulled within 17-16 on a block by Brianna Richard and Carly Clennan, but UAA answered with three straight points, getting a kill from sophomore middle blocker Isabel Evans to make it 20-16.

Blue recorded kills to make it 23-19 and 24-20, and Thurston was stuffed by Leilani Elder and Blue on match point.

Stephens hit a match-high .586 and made seven digs, while Blue hit .350. Elder had six kills and a pair of blocks, and Evans finished with five kills on .364 hitting and a match-high three blocks.

Senior libero Talia Leauanae led the defensive effort with a UAA season-high 18 digs, and freshman Madison Galloway had six digs and was 12-for-12 in receiving serves, helping the Seawolves limit the Gorillas to just one ace.

UAA’s 7-0 record trails just the 2015 squad and the 1988 team that started 10-0 for the best start in program history.

The Seawolves are back in action with four matches in Fairbanks next week, starting with a Thursday 4 p.m. ADT tilt against Findlay (Ohio). Surf to GoSeawolves.com for links to live video and stats.

2022 Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
Kayton Genenbacher, Lubbock Christian
Lisa Jaunet, Alaska Anchorage
Jessa Long, Alaska Fairbanks
Abigail Nua, Point Loma
Taylor Roberts, Emmanuel
Janae Thurston, Pittsburg State
Rilee White, Alaska Fairbanks
Co-Most Outstanding Players: Ellen Floyd and Eve Stephens, Alaska Anchorage

"Seawolves flatten Gorillas in three, improve to 7-0" is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.