A pair of freshmen led UAA back from a two-set deficit Saturday to beat Seattle Pacific 3-2 in Seattle.
Palmer's Eve Stephens, a Colony grad, recorded 18 kills and Ellen Floyd orchestrated the offense with 57 assists to lift the Seawolves to a 20-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-12 victory. Floyd's assists were 17 more than her previous high.
UAA junior outside hitter Vanessa Boyer had career-high tying 15 kills and four aces as the Seawolves (15-3, 8-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) increased their winning streak to 11 over the longtime rival.
"That was a gutsy effort by our ladies tonight," said UAA head coach Chris Green in a release from the school. "Even though we controlled the lead for most of the third and fourth sets, SPU made a lot of runs and there were opportunities for us to hang our heads, but we didn't. Eve and Ellen definitely made huge contributions, but this is one of those wins where you look up and down the stat sheet and feel good because every single player played a big role in this win."
SPU (7-10, 5-5) had a match-high 19 kills from Hailey Gaines. Gabby Oddo added 14 kills and 12 digs for the Falcons.
Boyer's 15th kill gave UAA a 13-12 lead in the final set. The Seawolves won the match on back-to-back attack errors by SPU.
UAA senior middle blocker Tara Melton had a career-high 14 kills and senior outside hitter Chrisalyn Johnson, a Dimond grad, recorded her 11th double-double of the season with 12 kills and 13 digs.
Seawolves senior libero Taylor Noga, an East grad, made a match-high 25 digs in the victory.
UAA begins the second half of its conference season on the road Tuesday with a 7 p.m. match against UAF in Fairbanks.