Anchorage (Nov. 21) – Junior outside hitter Tia Allen delivered 11 kills and 13 digs Thursday to help the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team clinch a winning season with a 25-22, 25-17, 25-17 sweep of Western Washington at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Playing in front of a raucous crowd of 3,000 Anchorage School District fifth-graders, the Seawolves (15-12, 9-8 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) also got eight kills from senior outside hitter Bethany Tuchardt and 19 digs from junior libero Madison Galloway as they outhit the visitors .240 to .147 and outblocked them 8-1.

The Vikings (12-11, 11-6) were led by 10 kills and 16 digs from outside hitter Devin Oestreich, but were hurt by 10 service errors.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way our team rose to the challenge today and played consistently throughout the match,” said UAA head coach Stacie Meisner, whose club caught Seattle Pacific for fifth place in the GNAC standings with one match remaining. “We stifled their ability to make any big runs by getting timely sideouts, and our back- and front-row defense were both outstanding. Hopefully we can ride this momentum into Senior Day on Saturday.”

I couldn’t be more proud of the way our team rose to the challenge today and played consistently throughout the match.

- UAA head coach Stacie Meisner

Looking to prevent a second straight season sweep by their longtime rivals, the Seawolves erased an 11-9 deficit and used a late surge to secure the opening set. Tied 20-20, UAA got consecutive kills from Katie Birtcil, Tuchardt and Bella Burney. WWU came out of an ensuing timeout with a kill of its own, but Tuchardt and senior Leilani Elder closed with kills for the Seawolves.

Despite trailing 8-5 in the second, UAA dominated the rest of the way, outhitting WWU .250 to .054 in that frame and .225 to .095 in the third. Tuchardt blasted four kills on .571 hitting in the final set, while Elder collected three of her four total blocks.

Allen hit .308 to record her team-high eighth double-double, and Birtcil and junior rightside hitter Larssen Anderson tallied seven kills apiece.

The team’s lone fourth-year senior, Elder tied her career high with three solo blocks, while setters Hannah Trotter and Kadyn Osborne combined for 26 assists and nine digs.

UAA finishes the season Saturday at 3 p.m. against second-place Simon Fraser at the Alaska Airlines Center. Find tickets and links to live stats and video at GoSeawolves.com.

November Archive