In need of a bounce-back game for the first time this season, the UAA volleyball team got back on the winning track Saturday with a road win over Central Washington.
Two nights after their 14-match winning streak was snapped, the seventh-ranked Seawolves rallied from a sizeable deficit in the fourth set to beat Central Washington 25-18, 21-25, 25-21, 25-23 in Ellensburg, Washington.
The win sends the Seawolves home with a 15-1 record, 7-1 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
"We responded well after that loss on Thursday," UAA coach Chris Green said. "I was a little worried, especially right before the match, but they responded well."
After hitting a season-low attack percentage of .125 in a four-set loss to Northwest Nazarene earlier in the week, the Seawolves rebounded with a .240 hitting effort. They got double-figure kills from Katelynn Zanders (17 on .282 percent hitting) and Julia Mackey (15 on .393 hitting).
UAA matched Central Washington's big block, taking a 12-10 advantage in that department. Erin Braun had a hand in eight blocks for UAA, including the one she and Mackey teamed up for on match point.
Taylor Noga served three aces and Zanders served two to help UAA frustrate the Wildcats (10-5, 6-2) with nine aces.
"We watched a lot of film and we knew Central Washington struggled in serve receive, so we knew we'd have a pretty good chance if we served well," Green said.
Leading 2-1 after three sets, UAA fell into a big hole in the fourth set, trailing 18-12. Consecutive kills by Zanders and Mackey followed by a Zanders ace closed the gap to 18-15, and the Seawolves didn't allow Central Washington to score consecutive points the rest of the way.
"That was a huge comeback against a good team," Green said. "We learned that we are tough. We played tough. We didn't play our best match of the year, but we toughed it out and won some really big rallies.
"I don't know if it was the best-looking volleyball on either side, but we won some really long rallies and had some great scramble plays."
Kyla Militante-Amper led UAA defensively with 13 digs. Zanders added nine and Leah Swiss came alive in the fourth set to finish with nine kills and 11 digs.
UAA is back home at the Alaska Airlines Center, where Thursday the Seawolves host league-leading and nationally ranked Western Washington, which won its 14th straight match Saturday to move to 14-2 overall, 8-0 in the GNAC.
"Western Washington is on top of the standings now," Green said. "We'll be playing as an underdog on our home court and that may be easier for us."
Green said the team needs a good few days of practice to prepare for the 15th-ranked Vikings, and getting a win Saturday night should help.
"Ending the weekend on a win makes it that much easier to get up Monday morning," he said.