Two clutch kills from Chrisalyn Johnson near the end of the match helped the UAA volleyball team sweep Montana State-Billings in a Friday match in Billings.
With the Yellowjackets threatening to extend the match to four sets, UAA finished with a 10-3 run to end things in three sets 25-21, 25-18, 28-26.
UAA, winners of three straight matches, improved to 10-2 overall, 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Billings dropped to 6-5, 0-3.
Johnson, a senior outside hitter from Anchorage, finished with a match-high 12 kills to go along with one solo block, four block assists and five digs.
UAA trailed 23-18 in the third set when a kill by Vanessa Boyer ignited a 5-0 run by the Seawolves, who got the last two points of the run on a kill by Johnson and an ace by Taylor Noga, another senior from Anchorage.
The Yellowjackets came back to earn two shots at set point, but the first was foiled by a kill by Johnson and the other was doomed by an attack error. Billings made five attack errors down the stretch, including two that provided the Seawolves with the final two points in the match.
“I was pleased with the resilience we showed in the third set, being able to dig out of a big hole to finish a tough league road win in three,” UAA coach Chris Green said in a release from UAA. “Our seniors all had strong efforts. Chrisalyn had one of her best matches of the year, and we got a nice all-around performance from Taylor, so lots of credit goes to our veterans tonight.”
Eve Stephens, who was coming off back-to-back 21-kill matches, had another double-digit hitting night for UAA with 10 kills. One of them put the Seawolves ahead 26-25 in the third set — their first lead since a 1-0 edge at the start of the set.
Noga added three aces, four kills and 13 digs, Anjoilyn Vreeland had 12 digs and Tara Melton chipped in four block assists.
The Seawolves remain on the road next week for GNAC games against Simon Fraser and Western Washington.