Seawolves win wild 3rd set to sweep Saint Martin’s in volleyball

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Vera Pluhaova and Chrisalyn Johnson, of UAA, go up to block the volleyball hit by Emily Gooding, of Saint Martin’s, at the Alaska Airlines Center on the campus of UAA in Anchorage, Alaska on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017. (Bob Hallinen / Alaska Dispatch News)

A wild come-from-behind third set clinched a sweep for the UAA volleyball team on Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Despite trailing by five points with Saint Martin's at set-point in the third set, the Seawolves went on an 8-1 run to pull off a 25-7, 25-19, 27-25 sweep in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference home opener.

The win improved No. 20 UAA to 7-5 overall and 3-0 in the GNAC. It was UAA's 10th straight sweep over the Saints of Lacey, Washington, a streak that goes back to 2012.

A Jeckyll-and-Hyde performance by the Seawolves made the match closer than a sweep might suggest.

The Seawolves started with dominating first set, complete with runs of 11-0 and 8-1, seven kills from outside hitter Leah Swiss and a .619 team hitting percentage.

As the match went on, UAA's play deteriorated and the Saints picked up their attack. The Seawolves hit just .017 in the third set.

"We started out strong and we saw a UAA team that I would like to see all the time," UAA coach Chris Green said. "As a coach, we hate to see what happened tonight where statically we get worse as the match went on."

UAA's saving grace, Green said, was blocking and serving, both of which came up big in waning moments of the third set.

Down 24-19, UAA scored on a block by senior outside hitter Anais Vargas and freshman middle blocker Vera Pluharova, which set up six straight serves by sophomore setter Madison Fisher.

After two Saint Martin's attack errors, Fisher surprised the Saints with a sneaky setter dump that cut their lead to 24-23. UAA tied the game on another Saint Martin's error and took the lead on another block, this time by Pluharova and outside hitter Chrisalyn Johnson, to give UAA a 25-24 lead.

Saint Martin's tied the game 25-25 before sophomore right side hitter Diana Fa'amausili sent a thundering spike off a Saints' defender. A Fa'amausili block ended the match on the next point.

"Thankfully in Game 3, Maddie came in and served some tough balls and we were able to get some blocks at the end," Green said.

UAA was also challenged in the second set, when the Saints went on a 7-1 run and cut UAA's lead to 18-17 and forced Green to call a timeout.

UAA got rolling again on a Johnson kill and ended the set on a 7-2 run capped by a Vanessa Hayes strike at the net.

Swiss led the Seawolves with two aces and 13 kills, most coming in the first two sets.

Fisher added 20 assists and 12 digs and Pluharova, of the Czech Republic, was in on six of UAA's 13 team blocks.

Saint Martin's was powered by outside hitter Rebecca Mitchell, who hammered 15 kills and recorded 14 digs, an effort offset by 11 attack errors.

Green said Saint Martin's (6-5, 1-2) — which has already matched last season's win total — is an improved team under second-year coach Jon Killingbeck. But he credited the close third set to mistakes by the Seawolves.

"Hopefully we can find a way to get some consistency," Green said. I just don't see the intensity that I've seen with recent teams.

"We don't have that killer instinct that we need to have. It needs to happen on game night."

Green said the Seawolves will continue to experiment with different lineups in their search for consistency when they host Seattle Pacific on Saturday.