Maybe it came to see a new arena, but the record crowd that showed up at the Alaska Airlines Center on Friday night also saw a sharp performance by the UAA volleyball team.
Playing in front of the biggest home crowd in program history, the Seawolves swept Long Island-Post of New York in a tidy 88 minutes. The match drew 1,200 spectators, which is about 200 more than the old Wells Fargo Sports Complex could accommodate.
The turnout easily beat the old program record of 884, set in a 2012 match against UAF.
The 25-22, 25-16, 25-21 win marked the second triumph of the day for UAA, which beat Saint Leo of Florida in five sets Friday morning in a match that marked the first competition inside the $110 million arena. The match began at 9 a.m., which wasn't too early for a crowd of 250 to show up to see the Seawolves pull out a 25-16, 17-25, 25-16, 26-24, 15-9 win.
The matches were part of the two-day, three-day SpringHill Suites Invitational volleyball tournament, the centerpiece of the arena's grand-opening festivities. Everyone will play two more matches Saturday.
In their season opener, the Seawolves turned back the team that captured last season's NCAA Division II East Region championship.
Katelynn Zanders, an All-American outside hitter from Anchorage, racked up 12 kills, nine digs and four aces and Julia Mackey, an outside hitter from Fairbanks, racked up 13 kills for the Seawolves.
Zanders earned herself a spot in history by notching the first kill in the new arena.
She spurred her team to victory in the decisive fifth set, scoring the first three points on a kill and two aces. She also provided match point with another kill and finished with a match-high .370 attack percentage.
Erin Braun, last season's Freshman of the Year in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, delivered seven kills and was in on five blocks to help UAA outblock the Lions 9-4. Quinn Barker made a match-high 22 digs and Morgan Hooe had a match-high 26 assists.
Saint Leo, which plays in the Sunshine State Conference, got big numbers from Lauren Campbell (15 kills, 14 digs) and Tawni Warren (11 kills, 3 aces, 5 digs).
In the night match, Zanders shined again with match-highs of 15 kills and five aces. Barker anchored the defense with 25 digs, and Hooe put up 23 assists. Freshman Kristi Farley added 18 assists.
One of the most impressive efforts came from Breanne Sytnyk, who had six kills on seven attempts with one error for a .714 attack percentage.
Danielle Valenza led Long Island-Post with six kills, four aces, two solo blocks and 11 digs. Earlier in the day, Valenza collected 20 kills and 16 digs in a 25-22, 22-25, 26-24, 22-25, 15-9 squeaker over Saint Leo.
Early in their match against the Seawolves, Valenza and her teammates appeared poised to take an early lead. The Seawolves rallied to avoid a first-set loss and went on to score the sweep.
"Winning Game 1, we had to come from five or six behind, and I think that was the key to the whole match," UAA coach Chris Green said in a press release. "Overall, we're very happy with the two wins and excited to start off the Alaska Airlines Center with a 2-0 record."
SpringHill Suites Invitational
Alaska Airlines Center
Friday's results
UAA 3, Saint Leo 2 (25-16, 17-25, 25-16, 24-26, 15-9)
Long Island-Post 3, Saint Leo 2 (25-22, 22-25, 26-24, 22-25, 15-9)
UAA 3, Long Island-Post 0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-21)
Saturday's matches
9 a.m. — UAA vs. LIU-Post
Noon — Long Island-Post vs. Saint Leo
7 p.m. — UAA vs. Saint Leo