In its first match after the dismissal of two key players, the UAA volleyball team rallied to win the final two sets and pull out a comeback victory over Simon Fraser on Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Seawolves won the match 25-18, 21-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-9 to halt a two-match losing streak and improve to 5-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and 10-7 overall.
UAA played without right side hitter Diana Fa'amausili and setter Madison Fisher, sophomore starters who were dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules, coach Chris Green said. He declined to say what rule they broke, calling it a "team matter."
After dropping the second and third sets, UAA won a back-and-forth fourth set that featured five lead changes and nine ties.
In the fifth set the Seawolves burst out to a 5-0 lead behind two aces by junior outside hitter Leah Swiss, who also thundered the final kill of the match.
"A gritty win," Green said. "We just kept grinding and swinging at it and we were able to get a few balls to hit the ground.
"I'm very proud of this team for this win."
With the absence of Fa'amausili, the reigning GNAC freshman of the year, and Fisher, one of the team's two primary setters, three Seawolves were forced to step up.
Senior outside hitter Anais Vargas and junior middle blocker Tara Melton each supplied a career-high nine kills, and freshman Casey Davenport notched 36 assists, 11 digs and four kills in her first match without sharing duties with Fisher.
Chrisalyn Johnson delivered 13 kills and 18 digs to lead the Seawolves, who for the first time this season used a 5-1 rotation, which uses five hitters and one setter, as opposed to a 6-2 that uses six hitters and two setters.
"You saw I think we still have options out there," Green said. "Casey did a good job running the 5-1 and she's an offensive threat in the front row."
Vargas said it was good for UAA to get a win coming from behind. The Seawolves have struggled to close out matches at times this season.
"It is hard to lose two games in a row and this is just a big boost for our team," Vargas said. "It's great to know we are more than capable of coming back and having that grit."