Leah Swiss enjoyed a career night and a nice bit of revenge Thursday night for the UAA volleyball team.
Swiss blasted 26 kills to help the Seawolves come from behind to beat the team that knocked them off in the West Region semifinals last season.
UAA twice trailed by a set before battling back for a 20-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-23, 15-11 win over Cal State San Bernardino in the Division II West Region Showcase in Rohnert Park, California.
The match pitted two nationally ranked teams — No. 12 UAA and No. 15 San Bernardino. The victory marked the second time this season the Seawolves came from behind to beat a nationally ranked opponent — last week they rallied from a two-set deficit to beat then 19th-ranked Arkansas Fort Smith.
"I was very impressed again with the poise we showed again," UAA coach Chris Green said in a press release from the school. "We made some adjustments and started using our block more effectively after the first set, and Leah really stepped up and showed that she can be one of the best players in the West Region this year."
Swiss, a sophomore outside hitter from Dimond High, got two of her kills at the end of the fourth set to break a 23-23 tie and force a fifth set. She owned the fifth set with seven kills and finished the match with a .480 attack percentage that featured two errors on 50 attacks.
While San Bernardino (3-2) took control early by dominating the first set, the Seawolves (7-1) staged a fantastic finish to avenge last season's five-set heartbreaking loss to the Coyotes at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves posted an eye-popping .526 attack percentage in the decisive set, which they turned into a hitting clinic — 11 kills on 19 attacks with one error.
UAA hit .244 for the match against San Bernardino's .190, getting 70 kills to the Coyotes' 55. Three hitters joined Swiss in double figures — Diana Fa'amausili had 12, Chrisalyn Johnson 11 and Erin Braun 10 — to help the Seawolves survive 17 serving errors.
Four players reached double figures in digs. Kyla Militante-Amper led the way with 23, Swiss had 15 and Morgan Hooe and Keala Kaio-Perez had 12 apiece.
Hooe added 47 assists, four kills and three block assists, and Kaio-Perez came up clutch in the final set by serving back-to-back aces.
San Bernardino was led by Lauren Nicholson's 18 kills, 12 digs and three aces and Malika O'Brien's 15 kills and seven blocks, one of them a solo effort.
The match was the first of four for UAA in the three-day tournament at Sonoma State. The Seawolves face Dixie State at 2 p.m. ADT Friday and play twice on Saturday, with a 9:30 a.m. match against 25th-ranked Cal Baptist and a 6:30 p.m. match against host Sonoma State.