UAA Athletics

After waiting more than 15 months to play again, the UAA volleyball team quickly establishes a winning streak

After waiting 469 days to play a match, the UAA volleyball team needed less than 24 hours to start a winning streak.

The Seawolves won three matches in Washington in their return to action after a long break caused by the pandemic. They took a doubleheader from Seattle Pacific on Saturday afternoon in Seattle and a four-set victory over Saint Martins on Friday night in Lacey.

“That was a huge relief to finally be able to get back out there,” UAA coach Chris Green said after the Friday match. “We looked a little rusty at times, but overall I was pleased.”

The match was UAA’s first since Dec. 6, 2019, when it lost a second-round West Region match to eventual national champion Cal State-San Bernardino. The entire 2020 season was canceled because of COVID-19.

This weekend marked the start of UAA’s short spring season, and so far, so good.

After Friday’s four-set win, the Seawolves swept Seattle Pacific in Saturday’s first match 25-18, 25-20, 25-19, before needing five sets to win the second match 25-17, 21-25, 25-14, 10-25, 16-14.

Eve Stephens, a junior All-American from Palmer, racked up a career-high 26 kills in the second match after supplying 14 in the first match and 13 against Saint Martins.

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She was a workhorse in the final match, making 71 attack attempts and five errors for a .296 hitting percentage. In the first match, Stephens hit .520 with one error on 25 attempts.

Freshman Nicole Blue of Cerritos, California, made an instant impact with a combined 19 kills Saturday plus 16 on Friday.

Her biggest attack came on UAA’s second attempt at match point in Saturday’s finale. Blue took a set from Ellen Floyd — who had 43 assists for the match and 109 for the weekend — and blasted it for her 11th kill to end the match.

The Seawolves will take their 3-0 record into their only home matches of the season Friday and Saturday against UAF at the Seawolf Sports Complex. Friday’s match is at 7 p.m. and Saturday’s is at 1 p.m. No spectators will be allowed because of COVID-19 protocols.

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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