Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
SEATTLE – So many times, winning Game 5 of a volleyball match comes down to which team makes the first big scoring run.
On Thursday night, that was Alaska Anchorage.
The Seawolves put six straight points on the board to snap a 4-4 tie, and went on to beat Seattle Pacific in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest in Brougham Pavilion.
Scores were 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-6.
"It's who can get momentum first in the fifth game. Besides the first game (when SPU fell into a 16-6 hole), we were getting momentum early," head coach
Abbie Wright said, "but we couldn't quite swing it in the fifth game."
Senior middle blocker / opposite
Hannah Lautenbach put her 1,000th career point into the book. She came in needing 2½ points to reach a grand, and got there with room to spar. Lautenbach recorded eight kills, one service ace, and six block assists for a total of 12.
Now with 1,009½ points, she is the 16th player in the 32-year history of the SPU program to reach four figures. In fact, she already has moved up to No. 15 on list.
Sophomore outside hitter
Gabby Oddo slammed 21 kills for the Falcons (10-9, 5-6 GNAC), including the 500
th of her career. She made it a double-double – her fourth of the season – by coming up with 15 digs.
The Falcons twice came from a game down to tie the match, getting into a deciding fifth game for the ninth time this season.
Tied a 4-4, Alaska Anchorage (13-7, 8-3 GNAC) took the lead on a kill by Chrisalyn Johnson. The Seawolves were up 8-4 when the teams changed sides, and then added two more points for a 10-4 advantage. SPU got just two more points the rest of the way.
"It's frustrating, but you've got to learn from it. If we don't learn from this match, then it really is a loss. But if we can learn from it and use it to our advantage, it won't be a total failure. That's what I know our girls will do, and we'll bounce back and play hard again (on Saturday)."
Seattle Pacific fell into a 16-6 hole in the opening game, but cut the deficit all the way down to one at 23-22 before Anchorage got the final two points. The Seawolves led for most of Game 2, although never by more than four. Tied at 23-23, it was the Falcons who got the final two points this time, on a tip by Oddo and an Alaska Anchorage hitting error, leveling it at one game apiece.
A 21-16 SPU lead in Game 3 melted away as the Seawolves ran off four in a row and nine of the final 10 points. The Falcons then raced to a 7-1 lead in the fourth game, and UAA never got closer than two, thereby bringing on another Game 5.
"If we can be confident at the right time … sometimes, that confidence wasn't there at the wrong moments, and Anchorage took advantage of that," Wright said. "It's figuring out how to be flexible and figuring out how to play tough all the way through a match. It's a learning curve."
Lautenbach's 1,000th point came early in Game 2. She had two kills in the opener, putting her at 999½. The last half point was earned on a combined block with freshman
Gabi Stegemoller.
BY THE NUMBERS
-- SPU hit just .069 for the match, with a high of .185 in Game 1. Alaska Anchorage finished at .174, helped by a .429 mark (7 kills-1 error-14 attacks) in the fifth game.
-- With Thursday's double-double,
Gabby Oddo has 17 for her career. The 21 kills put her at 514.
--
Gabi Stegemoller finished with six block assists, doubling her previous career high, and also beating her previous best of five total blocks.
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific is back in Brougham Pavilion on Saturday night at 7:00 against Alaska Fairbanks. The Falcons came from two games down to beat the Nanooks last month on UAF's home court.
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle,
Alaska Anchorage 3, Seattle Pacific 2
Game scores – 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25, 15-6.
Service aces – UAA 6 (Vanessa Hayes 2, Keala Kaio-Perez 2), SPU 5 (
Symone Tran 3).
Kills – UAA 62 (Leah Swiss 23), SPU 48 (
Gabby Oddo 21).
Assists – UAA 60 (Casey Davenport 46), SPU 44 (Tran 36).
Digs – UAA 96 (Davenport 21), SPU 76 (
Mallie Donohoe 18, Odd 15,
Hannah Lautenbach 13,
Sophie Kuehl 10).
Block assists / solo – UAA 20 / 1 solo (Tara Melton 7 / 0 solo), SPU 20 / 2 solo (Lautenbach 6 / 0 solo,
Gabi Stegemoller 6 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – UAA 62-31-178--.174 (Hayes 8-1-17--.412), SPU 48-35-188--.069 (Tran 4-1-9--.333, Stegemoller 3-1-7--.286).
Attendance – 134.
Records – Seattle Pacific 10-9, 5-6 GNAC. Alaska Anchorage 13-7, 8-3 GNAC.
Next match
Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Paciic
Saturday, Oct. 21 7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion
