Thursday, December 1, 2016

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Leah Swiss and Diana Fa’amausili blasted 14 kills apiece and Morgan Hooe dished 33 assists to lead host and top-seeded Alaska Anchorage to a 25-21, 25-18, 25-15 sweep of 8th-seeded Chico State in the first round of the NCAA Div. II West Regional Volleyball Championships at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Seawolves (30-2) also got a match-high 17 digs from sophomore libero Kyla Militante-Amper as they rallied to take a tight opening set and advance to the NCAA Tournament Second Round for the second straight season.

The Wildcats (23-8) were led by seven kills apiece from Olivia Mediano and Kim Wright but the California Collegiate Athletic Association runners-up were outhit .265 to .055 and outblocked 10-4 by their nationally 9th-ranked hosts.

After leading for much of the first set, UAA had to rally from a 15-12 deficit and still trailed 21-20 when Chico State’s Ashton Kerschner converted a pass from Torey Thompson (21 assists). UAA outside hitter Chrisalyn Johnson tied it with a kill of her own, however, starting a 5-0 run to clinch the set. The sophomore outside hitter from South Anchorage High School also provided the block assist to make it 24-21, followed by another kill on set point.

UAA outhit the visitors .273 to .031 in the second set and .333 to .050 in the clinching frame to send a crowd of 1,878 home happy. Johnson finished with eight kills and 11 digs, Swiss picked up her 11th double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs, and senior Erin Braun made a match-high six total blocks.

The Wildcats had no answer for Fa’amausili, too, as the AVCA West Region Freshman of the Year hit .440 (14 kills-3 errors-25 attacks) to record her second-best collegiate attack percentage.

Up next for UAA is 5th-seeded and GNAC rival Northwest Nazarene (21-7) in Friday’s 7:30 p.m. regional semifinal at the Alaska Airlines Center.