Oct. 20, 2011
Box Score
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Western Washington University was outhit .250 to .051 as it fell to University of Alaska Anchorage, 25-12, 25-23, 25-15, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match Thursday at Wells Fargo Sports Center.
The Vikings, which entered with a half-match lead in the hotly contested GNAC title race, fell to third at 9-3. They are 11-5 overall.
UAA is now tied for first place at 9-2 with Seattle Pacific.
The Seawolves, 13-6 overall and 5-1 at home, have won nine of their last 11 matches. They were led by Jackie Matthisen with a match-high 12 kills, and Quincy Haught, who had a match-high 21 digs.
Early in the third set, Matthisen became just the fifth UAA player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills.
WWU had just 27 kills. Marlayna Geary (Jr., Tacoma/Bellarmine) and Breanne Graham (Jr., Vancouver/Hockinson) led the team with seven each. Samantha Hutchinson (R-Fr., University Place/Curtis) had 18 digs for the Vikings.
The Seawolves never trailed in the opening set, having runs of six and eight points. The Vikings held a 23-21 second-set lead, but UAA scored the last four points to go up 2-0.
In the third set, UAA scored seven straight points for a 16-6 lead in closing out the match.
The Vikings finished with 21 errors in 118 total attacks. UAA had 42 kills and just 15 errors in 108 attempts.
WWU was without two middle blockers, starter Bailey Jones (Jr., Mukilteo/Kamiak) missing her third straight match with a concussion and her back-up Kayla Erickson (R-Fr., Gig Harbor/Peninsula) suffering a severe ankle sprain during a practice session earlier in the day.
WWU is at Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday (3 p.m.) for a GNAC counter.
