Thursday, December 5, 2013

NCAA WEST REGIONALS (Dec. 5-7 at San Bernardino): Thursday - #3 UC San Diego d. #6 Dixie State 25-19, 18-25, 25-18, 25-22; #2 BYU-Hawaii d. #7 Alaska Anchorage, 25-19, 25-19, 25-17;  #4 Sonoma State d. #5 Western Washington, 25-19, 25-18, 25-16; #1 CSU San Bernardino d. #8 Central Washington, 25-22, 25-18, 25-23. Friday – UC San Diego vs. BYU-Hawaii, 5 p.m.; Sonoma State vs. CSU San Bernardino, 7:30 p.m.   Saturday – Championship match at 7 p.m.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – A quick start was not enough as Alaska Anchorage lost to second-seeded BYU-Hawaii 25-19, 25-19, 25-17 in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II West Regional at The Dan Thursday.

GNAC champion Western Washington and Central Washington were also ousted in the opening round.

The Vikings, who were held to a season-low .065 hitting percentage by fourth-seeded Sonoma State, which hit .238,  fell to the CCAA school  25-19, 25-18, 25-16.  Top-seed Cal State San Bernardino eliminated the Wildcats, 25-22, 25-18, 25-23.

Shih Ting Chen had 14 kills to lift BYUH to its sweep of UAA.  The PacWest champions improved to 25-1 with their 18th consecutive victory.

Outside hitters Brooke Pottle and Katelynn Zanders combined for 15 kills and 14 digs for UAA, which ended the season with a 21-10 record.

Pottle had seven kills and seven digs, while Zanders had eight kills and seven digs.

UAA – making their fourth NCAA tournament appearance in five seasons – looked good at the beginning, jumping to leads of 5-2 and 12-9 in the opening set. But the nationally 4th-ranked Seasiders  took over at that point, using a 7-0 run to claim control.

UAA made a comeback in the second set to tie it 16-16 and 17-17 before BYUH rallied for eight of the last 10 points. The Pacific West Conference champions controlled action throughout the third set as they advanced to face 3rd-seeded UC San Diego in Friday’s regional semifinals.

Senior Siobhan Johansen recorded 16 assists, three kills and five digs in her final collegiate match, while senior middle blocker Jodi Huddleston had two kills on four attempts.

Junior right-side hitter Maureen Sabado notched five kills on .444 hitting in the loss as well.

BYUH outhit UAA .383 to .172 in the contest, including .441 and .419 in the final two sets.

Caylie Seitz, the California College Athletic Association Player of the Year, led Sonoma State with 13 kills in its win over WWU.  Madelyn Densberger had 11 kills and Regan Richert had 10.  Rachel Andrews had six blocks.

Kayla Erickson led the Vikings, who finished their season with a 23-4 record, with eight kills, while Emily Boerger had six blocks.  Jennica McPherson had six kills and a pair of blocks.  Samantha Hutchinson, who ranks second nationally in digs with a 6.90 average, didn't hurt that average, producing 21 in the three-set match.

Western came into the match ranked seventh nationally in hitting (.274), but were held to a .114 percentage in the first set, minus .026 in the second set and .098 in the third.

“It was a bad time to play our worst match of the year,” said WWU head coach Diane Flick (296-78), whose teams have made eight post-season appearances during her 14-year tenure. “Sonoma State played a great match and we decided to hang onto our jitters for three sets.”

Tori May had 15 kills and Alexandra Torline had 14 to lead Cal State San Bernardino past CWU for its 10th consecutive win.  The Coyotes also got 11 kills and four blocks from Brenna McIntosh and five blocks from Danielle Newcombe.

Emmy Dolan had 13 kills to lead the Wildcats (15-12).  Linden Firethorne added seven kills and Kaitlin Quirk had four blocks. CWU was outhit by the host school .230 to .141.