Box score, play-by-play
 
ANCHORAGE – For the first time since 2007, the Seattle Pacific Falcons have a volleyball victory in Anchorage.
                    
Senior outside hitter Cailin Fellows hammered 12 kills, junior middle blocker Nikki Lowell added 11, and junior middle blocker Nikki Cheek put down a career-high eight on Saturday as SPU pulled out a four-game victory against the host Seawolves.
 
Scores of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference match in the Wells Fargo Center were 25-16, 21-25, 25-21, 25-23.
 
The last time the Falcons beat UAA on the road was Oct. 27, 2007 in four games: 30-15, 30-19, 29-31, 30-18.
 
“It's so sweet to win here finally – we haven't done it in so long,” SPU head coach Chris Johnson said. “It was a defensive struggle and battle both ways. There were a lot of long rallies – you thought it was going to be over, and somebody would dig the ball up. We happened to come out on top. We got a few more kills and a few less errors than they did.”
 
Saturday's victory pushed Seattle Pacific (13-12, 10-6 GNAC) above .500 for the first time since it Sept. 1, when it was 2-1 during a preseason tournament in Hawaii. The Falcons also clinched a winning record in conference play with two matches left.
 
The Falcons wrap up the schedule this coming week at home, playing host to nationally ranked Western Washington on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion and welcoming Simon Fraser in on Saturday's Senior Night at 7 p.m.
 
Fellows (Edmonds, Wash. / Edmonds-Woodway HS) tied her career high on Saturday with 67 attacks. Cheek (Puyallup, Wash. / Emerald Ridge HS) surpassed her previous career high of five kills and finished with a team-leading .438 hitting percentage.
                                                                                        
The Falcons led the decisive fourth game by as many as four points before Anchorage finally edged in front at 19-18. SPU responded with three in a row for a 21-19 lead. The Seawolves got back to 21-21, then Seattle Pacific went up 22-21 and 23-22, only to see UAA answer both times.
 
Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) gave the Falcons a match point opportunity with one of her quick kills on the set from senior Shelby Swanson. Sophomore opposite Madi Cavell (Keizer,Ore.) converted that match point try with a kill toward the far corner that the Seawolves could not keep in play.
 
Seattle Pacific put together an 8-1 scoring run in the opening game to turn a 12-12 tie into a 20-13 lead, as the Seawolves (16-8, 11-5 GNAC) were hampered by attack errors. The Falcons then had a 14-10 lead in Game 2, but Anchorage climbed back into it. At 21-21, UAA ran off the last four points.
 
Senior setter Swanson (Kennewick, Wash. / Kamiakin HS) served up the last five points of a 6-0 surge in the third game, bringing the Falcons from an 8-6 deficit into a 12-8 lead. SPU stretched it out to as many as eight at 21-13.
 
The Falcons came up with 76 digs, and had four players in double figures, led by the 22 of sophomore libero Brianna Leenders (Portland, Ore.). Freshman Breanne Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) had 14, Cavell a career-high 13, and Swanson 12. Along with her 39 assists, Swanson logged her 13^th double-double of the season and 30^th of her career.
 
The Falcons finished at .156 hitting, but limited Anchorage to just .067 – the second-lowest mark of any opponent this season.
 
“I just thought we played solid defense all night,” Johnson said. “Leenders did an awesome job. She passed pretty well, and she was one of those people digging up things that you didn't think would happen. Cailin and Madi were solid on the outside, and Nikki Lowell was good in the middle.
 
“It takes a team effort to beat a team that good.”


NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Wells Fargo Center / Anchorage, Alaska
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Alaska Anchorage 1
 
Game scores – 25-16, 21-25, 25-21, 25-23.
 
Service aces – SPU 5 (Breanne Wiekamp 2), UAA 5 (Sarah Johnson 2).
Kills – SPU 50 (Cailin Fellows 12, Nikki Lowell 11), UAA 45 (Julia Mackey 12).
Assists – SPU 42 (Shelby Swanson 39), UAA 45 (Siobhan Johansen 32).
Digs – SPU 76 (Brianna Leenders 22, Wiekamp 14, Madi Cavell 13, Swanson 12), UAA 83 (Nikkie Viotto 24, Jordan Bush 24).
Block assists / solo blocks – SPU 12 / 1 solo (Lowell 4 / 0 solo), UAA 16 / 1 solo (Jodi Huddleston 4 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 50-24-167--.156 (Nikki Cheek 8-1-16--.438), UAA 45-34-165--.067 (Viotto 6-1-15--.333).
Attendance – 504.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 13-12, 10-6 GNAC. Alaska Anchorage 16-8, 11-5 GNAC.
 
Next match – Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, Thursday, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.