Seawolves fall to Wildcats in Ellensburg

Ellensburg, Wash. (Nov. 7) - Junior outside hitter Tia Allen had nine kills to lead the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team, but a three-match winning streak came to an end Thursday with a 25-23, 25-19, 25-14 loss to Central Washington at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Seawolves (13-11, 7-7 GNAC) also got seven kills and seven digs from senior outside hitter Katie Birtcil, plus 14 assists and eight digs from senior setter Kadyn Osborne as they were outhit .202 to .068.

The Wildcats (13-6, 11-2) were led by 13 kills from Marianna Payne and 11 kills and 12 digs from Ellie Marble as they caught Simon Fraser for first place atop the GNAC standings with five matches left for each team.

"We had our chances in the first couple sets, but were not able to capitalize, and that's hard to survive against a team of that caliber," said UAA head coach Stacie Meisner.

We had our chances in the first couple sets, but were not able to capitalize, and that's hard to survive against a team of that caliber.

After trailing for much of the opening set, including 20-16, UAA rallied for a 23-23 tie behind a pair of kills from Leilani Elder, and a block by Martina Riba and Bella Burney. The Wildcats took advantage of a Seawolf service error, however, and clinched it on a kill by Emma Doud-Hebert.

The second set featured 11 ties and three lead changes as UAA captured an 11-10 edge on a block of Doud-Hebert by Elder and Burney. Tied 19-19 after another kill by Elder and a Central attack error, the Wildcats used another service error and another kill by Payne to spark a 6-0, set-ending run.

Elder finished with five kills, while Riba recorded a career-high five block assists.

The Seawolves play their road finale Saturday at 11 a.m. AST when they meet Northwest Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho. Find live stats and video and GoSeawolves.com.