Just when Saturday night's championship volleyball match showed the first hints it might be slipping from UAA's grasp, the Seawolves killed that notion -- literally.

The match was tied at one set apiece, and UAA trailed San Francisco-based Academy of Art 17-14 in the third set when Seawolves hitters McKenzie Moss, Cortney Lundberg and Jackie Matthisen rained thunder on the Urban Knights.

Before the end of that pivotal set, which UAA won 25-23, Moss blasted a kill, Lundberg followed with four straight kills and Matthisen delivered four of her own. All nine bombs came off assists from senior setter Calli Scott, the glue who binds the Seawolves.

End of threat.

The Seawolves, who fell victim to the Urban Knights in five sets of round-robin play Friday, won the rematch in four sets -- 25-16, 21-25, 25-23, 25-14 -- to win their season-opening Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

UAA's variety of hitters proved Academy of Art's undoing, and the Seawolves repeated as tournament champs. Matthisen led them with 14 kills, Moss bagged 13, and Lundberg and Marie Borowikow each contributed 12.

A season ago, All-American Rhea Caldwell was UAA's principal hitter. This time around, the Seawolves (3-1) appear to have more weapons in their arsenal.

"(Caldwell) kind of carried us offensively -- not to say we didn't have capable hitters,'' said UAA coach Chris Green. "But this season we have more depth and that gives our opponents a little more to think about.''

Matthisen, returning to the court after sitting out last season following her transfer from Western Oregon, regained her groove as the tournament progressed. She dropped 17 kills on the University of Mary in a four-set win earlier Saturday -- the Seawolves prevailed 18-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-13 -- that propelled UAA into the title match.

"I'm getting more comfortable on the court,'' said Matthisen, the former East High standout.

Combined with Moss (a team-best 61 kills in the tournament), Borowikow (38) and Lundberg (31), the presence of Matthisen (50 kills) gives Scott yet another option when she runs the offense.

"She just came alive,'' Scott said of Matthisen. "Jackie is an extremely explosive player, and she was tonight.''

Scott wasn't too shabby, either. Her 43 assists, seven digs, seven blocking assists and three kills in the title match earned her tournament Most Outstanding Player honors for the second straight season. She is the first player in the 15-year history of the event to win back-to-back Most Outstanding Player honors, and she was joined on the all-tournament team by Matthisen and Moss.

Academy of Art hitters Dan Yang (14 kills) and Jelena Jakovljevic (8 kills) and setter Melissa Cheng (35 assists) also landed on the all-tourney team. Ditto for Mary hitter Amanda Hennessy, who helped the Marauders beat Kentucky Wesleyan 25-14, 25-15, 25-22, in the third-place match.

Though the Seawolves were credited with seven service aces, that stat doesn't do justice to the quality of their serving. Time and again, their serves prevented the Urban Knights from setting up their offense. "We served tough,'' Green said.

"We got a lot more serves in,'' Matthisen said. "Last time we played them, we made a lot of serving errors. Tonight, our blocks were aggressive and we put the ball away.''

Those qualities allowed the Seawolves to open the season with a confidence-boosting tournament championship important for a young team -- UAA has three seniors and one junior, with two sophomores and six freshmen.