Sept. 16, 2014 Box Score
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BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Katelynn Zanders had a match-high 25 kills as University of Alaska Anchorage rallied from a two-set deficit to upset nationally ranked Western Washington University, 17-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 15-7, on Tuesday in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball opener for both teams at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the WWU campus.
The Vikings, rated No.10 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll, fell to 7-3. Middle blocker Kayla Erickson (Sr., Gig Harbor/Peninsula) led a balanced attack with 13 kills.
UAA, the GNAC runner-up last season, improved to 7-2. It was the Seawolves' fourth victory in the last six visits to Carver Gym, where the Vikings are 121-15 since 2000.
WWU took control of the opening set with a pair of 5-0 runs, and held the Seawolves to -.042 attack efficiency with eight kills and 10 errors in 48 attempts.
In the second set, the Vikings trailed 14-9, but rallied to tie the score at 18 and eventually pulled away by scoring five of the last six points, three of them on kills by Rachel Roeder (Jr., Sammamish/Issaquah).
UAA bounced back to win the third frame, opening up a 16-9 advantage and then hanging on after the Vikings closed to within one at 23-22.
In the fourth set, the Seawolves jumped to a 9-2 advantage, but WWU rallied to tie the game at 13-13. The score was tied at 18-18 before UAA pulled away with Zanders getting kills on four of its last five points.
In the deciding fifth set, the Vikings never led, and UAA pulled away with 10 of the last 13 points.
WWU has won the last two GNAC titles and was the pre-season favorite in this year's coaches poll.
Roeder had 11 kills for WWU, Jennica McPherson (Jr., Seattle/Kennedy) 10 and Kelsey Moore (Sr., Bellevue/Newport) eight. Libero Samantha Hutchinson (Sr., University Place/Curtis), the national leader in digs, had a match-high 42.
The Vikings' Joellee Buckner (R-Fr., Colville) and UAA's Caitlin McInerney each had seven blocks.
WWU plays two more GNAC foes this week at Carver Gym, facing Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday, Sept. 18 (7 p.m.) and Simon Fraser on Saturday, Sept. 20 (7 p.m.).
