Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play
 
ANCHORAGE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons had a big comeback in them. But Alaska Anchorage had one more.
 
SPU fought back from a six-point deficit to take a one-point lead late in the fourth game before the host Seawolves ran off four straight points and went on to close out a four-game victory in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball opener for both schools on Thursday night.
 
Scores in the Wells Fargo Center were 25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23.
 
Junior outside hitter Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.), led the Falcons (4-5, 0-1 GNAC) with 15 kills, and came up with 10 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. She now has seven for her career. Junior setter Kendall Langdon (Irvine, Calif.) had a career-high 15 digs to go along with 23 assists for her second double-double of the year and her career. Sophomore middle blocker Jackie Arnold (Anaheim, Calif.) had a career-best nine total blocks, with one solo.
                                                                                                                                     
The Falcons were down 18-12 in Game 4 when they put together a 9-2 scoring surge. In the middle of that run, junior outside hitter Jessica Miller (Fife, Wash. / Fife HS) had three straight kills with teammate Brianna Leenders serving to bring SPU within 18-17.
 
A kill by Britt tied it at 20-20, then an error by the Seawolves (7-6, 1-0 GNAC) put Seattle Pacific on top, 21-20.
 
Anchorage then went back in front, getting to triple match point at 24-21. The Falcons fought off two of those with a kill by Cavell and combined block by Arnold and Sara Biondi, making it 24-23.
                                                                                  
Brooke Pottle's kill then clinched the match for the Seawolves.
                                             
"It was too little, too late," said SPU head coach Chris Johnson, whose teams visits Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday at 8 p.m. PDT. "We started out (the match) really well, then we started making some bad decision that really cost us. We didn't quite get some of the match-ups that we wanted in the rotation, so that helps them a bit. But we made way too many mistakes."
 
As was the case in the final two matches of last weekend's Route 92 Showdown tournament in California, the Falcons were haunted by hitting errors. On Thursday, they had six more kills than Anchorage (50-44), and limited the Seawolves to .106 hitting, the second-lowest mark by an SPU opponent this season.
 
But the Falcons made 34 errors and wound up hitting just .101.
 
"When you give the other team an average of eight (points) a game, it makes it really tough to win when you only play to 25," Johnson said.
 
Senior middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) had 11 kills for Seattle Pacific, and sophomore outside hitter Ellie Britt (Orange, Calif.) slammed 10.

Junior libero Leenders (Gresham, Ore.) led the Falcons with 28 digs, a season high for her and the team. That pushed her past 800 digs for her career, now with 816.
 
"Bri passed really all night and had those 28 digs in four games. She was just fantastic."
 
The Falcons had the Seawolves on their heels in Game 1, leading 19-16, 21-19, and 23-22. But UAA got the last three points, all on kills, to take a one-game lead.
 
SPU was cruising in the second game, up 24-17, only to see Anchorage get within 24-23. A kill by Miller clinched it for the Falcons to even the match at a game apiece. The Seawolves then bolted to a 9-2 lead in the third game and stretched it to as many as 11.
 
Seattle Pacific is now 7-6 in GNAC openers.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Wells Fargo Center / Anchorage, Alaska
 
Alaska Anchorage 3, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Game scores – 25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23.
 
Service aces – SPU 2 (2 players with 1), UAA 5 (Katelyn Zanders 2).
Kills – SPU 50 (Madi Cavell 15, Nikki Lowell 11, Ellie Britt 10), UAA 44 (Julia Mackey 13).
Assists – SPU 47 (Kendall Langdon 23, Sara Biondi 17), UAA 43 (Siobhan Johansen 24).
Digs – SPU 66 (Brianna Leenders 28, Langdon 15, Cavell 10), UAA 59 (Quinn Barker 17).
Blocks / solos – SPU 24 / 2 solo (Jackie Arnold 8 / 1, Jessica Miller 5 / 0), UAA 24 / 3 solo (Jodi Huddleston 7 / 0, Erin Braun 4 / 2).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 50-34-159--.101 (Lowell 11-6-25--.200, Arnold 4-2-10--.200, Sara Biondi 2-1-5--.200), UAA 44-29-141--.106 (Braun 4-1-10--.300).
Attendance – 457
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 4-5, 0-1 GNAC. Alaska Anchorage 7-6, 1-0 GNAC.
 
Next match – Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks, Saturday, 8:00 p.m.