UAA’s Lee Ivakina and Emma Beck have stood tall at net all season. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report
Moments after leading the UAA volleyball team to victory on Saturday, coach Stacie Meisner waved to the Alaska Airlines Center crowd in appreciation. She should have taken a bow.
Having a coach-of-the-year type season, Meisner got the Seawolves to run through the tape in the fourth set and finish off the feisty Falcons from Seattle Pacific 25-17, 25-23, 24-26, 25-15 in the regular-season finale.
After the Seawolves took control early in the fourth set only to see SPU storm back to get within 11-10, the Alaskans faced a critical point in the match. Momentum had swung and the match was hanging in the balance because if the Falcons could force a fifth set, anything could happen.
The spark UAA looked for came in the form of a coach’s challenge. Emma Beck’s crosscourt spike was originally ruled a kill and then taken off the board before Meisner called for a challenge, which she won, giving her team a 12-10 lead. The Seawolves won the next six points to put them back in the driver’s seat as they cruised down the stretch.
West Region Rankings
1. Point Loma (24-4) Last week: 1-1
2. UAA (23-5) Last week: 2-0
3. Simon Fraser (20-4) Last week: 2-0
4. Fresno Pacific (25-1) Last week: 2-0
5. UAF (23-5) Last week: 2-0
6. Western Washington (19-6) Last week: 1-1
7. Central Washington (18-7) Last week: 1-1
8. Cal Poly Pomona (19-6) Last week: 0-1
9. Hawaii Hilo (20-9) Last week: 0-1
10. Cal State San Bernardino (22-5) Last week: 2-0
With the win, UAA improved to 23-5 overall and 14-4 in the GNAC and gave itself a chance to host the NCAA Tournament West Regional. The Seawolves entered the week ranked No. 2 in the region and went 2-0, while No. 1 Point Loma went 1-1, losing to Fresno Pacific in Friday’s title match at the Pac West Championships.
Common sense suggests UAA should leapfrog Point Loma and host the eight-team regional at its $110 million sports complex, but this is the NCAA we’re talking about, so it’s hard to predict.
The NCAA Tournament field will be announced Monday, and the state of Alaska will have two teams in the West Region, no matter where it’s played.
Seniors Avery Northcutt, Tia Allen and Madison Galloway were honored before the match and gathered for a group hug after the win. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report
Saturday’s match was Senior Day for the Seawolves for Tia Allen, Madison Galloway and Avery Northcutt.
Allen, of Clayton, Wash., has been one of the greatest players in GNAC history as only the second player in conference history to record 1,200 kills, 1,200 digs and 100 aces in her career.
Madison, of Pensacola, Fla., is UAA’s lone fourth-year player this season. She ranks fourth in school history with 1,396 career digs and has missed just one match in her entire career, taking over as UAA’s full-time libero last season.
Northcutt, an Anchorage native and former East standout, injured her leg earlier this season and hasn’t played since Sept. 20. But she was at every home match just the same.
Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report
UAF entered the week ranked No. 5 and went 2-0 to improve to 23-5 and solidify its position. A year ago, a 21-win Nanooks squad was snubbed by the NCAA. This year, however, both Alaska schools have been top notch as the balance of power has shifted to The Last Frontier.
UAA has won 14 of 16 home matches this year, with one of those Ls coming to the Nanooks. Since then, UAA has won six straight and enters the playoffs playing its best volleyball.
On Saturday, Beck, Lee Ivakina and Allen accounted for seven of the team’s final eight kills, which is to be expected because the Big 3 has played huge for the Seawolves, with Allen and Ivakina ranking top 10 in the GNAC and Beck top 25.
Beck, a 5-foot-11 freshman from Kenai and the 2023 Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year, finished with 11 kills, with three coming late in the fourth set when UAA needed someone to put the ball down. She delivered.
Another bright spot for the Seawolves was fellow freshman Trinity Byrne, a 5-10 highflyer who smashed six kills and hit .385. She’s had six or more kills in three of the last five matches after not doing it once in her first eight appearances.
SPU 17 23 26 15
UAA 25 25 24 25
Attack percentage – SPU .097 (Gregg .206, Evans .200, Omlid .032), UAA (Byrne .385, Ivakina .353, Beck .281). Kills – SPU 47 (Omlid 16, Evans 11, Greff), UAA 53 (Ivakina 15, Allen 13, Beck 11). Assists – SPU 45 (Chamberlin 38), UAA 50 (Malikova 30, Trotter 10). Digs – SPU 76 (Lopez 22, Omlid 22), UAA 72 (Allen 17, Galloway 15, Ivakina 11). Solo blocks – SPU 0, UAA 0. Aces – SPU 5 (Hickman 2), UAA 5 (Trotter 2). A – 1,017.
UAF 3, Billings 0
The 20th-ranked Nanooks made quick work of Montana State Billings with a dominating sweep at the Patty Center.
Elena Guc slammed eight kills, Cynphany Henderson had six kills and hit .714 and Mikala Henderson chipped in six kills.
Setter Ainsley Smith of North Pole dished out 15 assists and Larissa Barreiros Scatamburlo had 12 digs.
Billings 18 12 17
UAF 25 25 25
Attack percentage – Billings -.031 (Moniz .213,, Dorman .094), UAF .242 (C. Henderson .714, Jackson .556, Guc .227). Kills – Billings 22 (Dorman 10), UAF 35 (Guc 8). Assists – Billings 22 (Allen 11), UAF 34 (Smith 15). Digs – Billings 40 (Stuff 17), UAF 44 (Barreiros Scatamburlo 12). Solo blocks – Billings 0, UAF 0. Aces – Billings 4 (Dorman 2), UAF 9 (Flynn 4, Hashock 3. A – 630.
