Down by four points in the winner-take-all fifth set, the UAA volleyball team refused to fold Thursday night at the West Regional championships.
The Seawolves rallied past UC San Diego 22-25, 25-23, 25-28, 21-25, 16-14 to grab a spot in Friday’s semifinal round of the eight-team tournament in San Bernardino, California.
Trailing 8-4 in the fifth set, UAA scored eight straight points to seize a 12-8 lead. Even though the Tritons tied it three times after that, the Seawolves answered every time.
With the win, UAA improved to 23-6 and avenged an earlier loss to the Tritons (18-9), who took a four-set victory in Anchorage in early September.
The Seawolves won the game at the net, where they made the most of their attack opportunities and where blockers Kayla McGlathery, Vera Pluharova and Eve Stephens denied the Tritons time and time again, especially late.
UAA outblocked UCSD 13-5 and attacked with far better efficiency, posting a .264 attack percentage while limiting San Diego to a .155 percentage.
The match ended on a fitting note when San Diego hit the ball into the net.
“I’m extremely proud of this team for showing the same fight they have all year,” UAA coach Chris Green said in a release from the school. “Offensively, we were very good when our passing got the ball to Ellen (Floyd), and our block started to take control of the next late in the match. We proved tonight how far we’ve come since the beginning of the season when we lost to them in Anchorage.”
Stephens blasted a team-high 14 kills, including four in the fifth set. Two of her kills came during UAA’s 8-0 run and the other two gave UAA leads of 13-12 and 14-13.
Freshman Hannah Pembroke’s kill broke a 14-14 tie, and San Diego’s hitting error ended things.
Led by 14 kills from Stephens, 11 from Vanessa Hayes, 10 from McGlathery and eight from Pembroke, UAA hitters made the most of their chances. They totaled 50 kills against 17 errors.
San Diego, which got a match-high 16 kills from Jessica Rieble and Trinity Castaneda, had 59 kills against 34 errors. It was the Tritons’ final match as a Division II team — they are moving to Division I next season.
Ellen Floyd handed out 44 assists to keep UAA’s offense humming. McGlathery had a hand in seven blocks with one solo block, Stephens assisted on six and Pluharova had one solo block and five assists.
Talia Leauanae provided a team-high 13 digs, and Hayes served three of UAA’s 10 aces.
UAA plays again Friday at 6:30 p.m. AST against the winner of Thursday’s late match between top-seeded Cal State San Bernardino and eighth-seeded Central Washington.
The tournament’s champion will be crowned Saturday night and will advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II Tournament.