The Seawolves conclude their Hawaiian island trip on Saturday. Photo by Spencer Honda/Hawaii Hilo
After back-to-back losses on opening day, the UAA volleyball team bounced back on Friday to deliver new coach Morgan Hooe her first win.
A balanced attack fueled a 25-15, 25-20, 25-18 victory over Hawaii Pacific in Hilo on Day 2 of the three-day Alaska/Hawaii Challenge.
Junior Martina Riba recorded six kills and five blocks, while Kyana Gabriel and Lee Ivakina each slammed seven kills as the Seawolves got five kills or more from five different players.
“Today was a great first step, especially coming off a close loss last night,” Hooe said in a statement. “We withstood each of their runs and took control of each set, and our setters did a nice job of spreading the ball to different hitters.”
The day before, UAA got swept by Chaminade before losing a five-set thriller to Hawaii Hilo. Fewer than 20 hours later, the Anchorage team returned to the court and got the job done.
The Seawolves will wrap up their trip to the islands on Saturday against Chaminade.
Kenai’s Emma Beck notched five kills and a .267 attack percentage. Setters Hannah Trotter and Anna McWhorter combined for 31 assists and engineered a squad that hit .232 for the night.
Hooe, a former South star and All-American at UAA, took over her alma mater during the offseason after spending the previous three seasons as the program’s top assistant coach.
