ANCHORAGE, Alaska – It took a nationally-ranked team to end Seattle Pacific's five-match volleyball winning streak.
 
Maddie Pruden had nine kills, but no one else had more than six for the Falcons on Thursday night as No. 9 Alaska Anchorage swept to a 3-0 victory in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest inside the Alaska Airlines Center.
 
Scores were 25-18, 25-15, 25-13.
 
Prior to Thursday, the last loss for SPU (8-10, 6-4 GNAC) had been at home against then-No. 14 Anchorage on Sept 19. That one went to a deciding fifth set after the Falcons came back from two sets down, but UAA finally pulled it out, 15-12
 
Since then, Seattle Pacific had defeated Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington on the road, and went 3-0 on a homestand against Western Oregon, Saint Martin's, and Montana State Billings.
 
Thursday's rematch against Anchorage to open the second half of the conference schedule was all Seawolves (20-1, 10-0 GNAC), as they won their 12th in a row. Seattle Pacific led just twice: 5-4 in the first set and 1-0 in the third. The only ties were at 4-4, 5-5, and 6-6 in the first, and 2-2 in the third.
 
 

"We were hoping for a better result. I thought Anchorage played a really good match in all phases of the game," Falcons head coach Jason Rhine said. "They were siding out quickly on their side, and in the transition battle, they played us pretty evenly there. The played like the really good team that they are."
 
SPU delivered a solid offensive performance in the opening set, matching Anchorage in total kills (13 each) and hitting .303 with just three attack errors on 33 swings.
 
The Seawolves seemed ready to pull away with a 21-14 lead. But the Falcons ran off four straight points on a crosscourt kill by Ashley Antoniak, a kill by Erin Smith that went off an Alaska Anchorage blocker, and back-to-back service aces by Abigail Cunningham, cutting it to 21-18.
 
That was all. UAA came back from a timeout and put the final four points on the board to take the set.
 
Up 5-3 in the second set, the Seawolves rang up six points in a row to take command. Seattle Pacific never got closer than six, the last time at 12-6.
 
The Falcons were still within striking distance in the third at 8-6. Then Anchorage, with Makana Eleneki taking over the serve, put together an 8-0 scoring run to make 16-6. SPU halted it on a kill by Smith, but UAA responded with four more in a row, effectively wrapping it up with a 20-7 lead.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- This was Seattle Pacific's seventh match this season against a national top-25 opponent – two of those against Anchorage.
-- After their strong .303 hitting in the first set, the Falcons cooled off considerably and finished the match at .149 (32 kills-17 errors-101 attacks). They hit just .056 (10-8-36) in the second and .094 (9-6-32) in the third.
-- The Seawolves never did cool down. After their .344 performance in the first (13-2-32), they followed up with .267 in the second (11-3-30) and .357 in the third (13-3-28) for a final mark of .322 (37-8-90).
-- Maddie Pruden's nine kills came on a noteworthy hitting mark of .571, with just one error on 14 attacks. It was her second .500-plus of the season, the other one being .583 (8-1-12) against Chaminade on Sept. 3.
-- Allison Wilks had an error-free night with four kills on eight swings (.500).
-- When the teams met in Seattle, Anchorage came up big on the block with 29 total, accounting for 15 points, while limiting the Falcons to 10 total and five points. Somewhat similar story on Thursday: 23 total blocks and 12 points for UAA, two total blocks and one point for SPU.
-- Serving also was decidedly in Anchorage's favor with 10 aces and just three errors. Seattle Pacific had two aces and 10 errors.
-- Anchorage star Eve Stephens had 13 kills and no errors on 23 attacks for a .565 mark. The reigning GNAC Player of the Year and Preseason Player of the Year also had three service aces and three blocks.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons fly off to Alaska Fairbanks to face the Nanooks on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Pacific time. SPU scored a 3-1 victory when the teams met in Seattle. Fairbanks swept Montana State Billings on Thursday, 25-17, 25-19, 25-20.
 
"This is a trip that's important for us to continue growing as a team and playing good teams at their place," Rhine said. "We'll try to learn from this and show up ready to go and play more consistently on Saturday and take on another good team on their court."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
 
(No. 9) Alaska Anchorage, 3, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Game scores – 25-18, 25-15, 25-13.
 
Service aces – SPU 2 (Cunningham 2), UAA 10 (Leauanae 3, Stephens 3).
Kills – SPU 32 (Pruden 9), UAA 37 (Stephens 13).
Assists – SPU 30 (Tulino 15, Lambert 13), UAA 32 (Floyd 24).
Digs – SPU 39 (Cunningham 13, Antoniak 11), UAA 37 (Floyd 11).
Block assists / solo – SPU 2 / 0 solo (Hair 1 / 0 solo, Perry 1 / 0 solo), UAA 22 / 1 solo (Evans 7 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 32-17-101—149 (Pruden 9-1-14—571), UAA 37-8-90—322 (Stephens 13-0-23—565.
Attendance – 933.
'
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 8-10, 6-4 GNAC.
Alaska Anchorage 20-1, 10-0 GNAC.
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks
Saturday, 3:00 p.m. PDT
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska