Sunday, December 6, 2015

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – For the second night in a row, Cal State San Bernardino rallied from a two-set deficit to stun a GNAC opponent.

This time, the Coyotes used that rally to down the region’s top-seeded team, Alaska Anchorage, dominating the final three sets for a 26-28, 21-25, 25-17, 25-16, 15-12 victory Saturday night at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The Coyotes, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, finished the night with a .277 hitting percentage, including a .442 performance in the fourth set, and saw three players with double-digit kills led by a 30-kill, 18-dig performance by Alexandra Torline.

Alaska Anchorage came back from a first set win that required extra points to dominate in the second frame. The Seawolves, playing without the services of GNAC Player of the Year Katelynn Zanders, struggled to find their offensive rhythm in the final three sets. The No. 1 seed hit under .100 in the third and fifth sets.

Leah Swiss led Alaska Anchorage with 25 kills and 13 digs along with a .211 hitting percentage. Julia Mackey added 15 kills, 15 digs and seven blocks while Caitlin Hanson finished with 10 kills and a .286 hitting percentage. With the loss, Alaska Anchorage sees the best season in school history close with a 27-3 overall record.

To advance to next week’s national quarterfinals in Tampa, Fla., Cal State San Bernardino will have to sweep the three GNAC teams to advance to the tournament. The Coyotes will face No. 2 seed Western Washington on Sunday, with the match beginning at 4 p.m. Alaska time (5 p.m. Pacific).

The Seawolves opened the first set with a 4-0 lead, but the Coyotes came back to tie the frame at 12-12 on Lauren Nicholson’s kills and went up 16-13 on back-to-back UAA attack errors. The Seawolves regained composure, taking the 19-18 lead on Taylor Noga’s service. They led by two points on three occasions before Nicholson’s kill tied things at 24-24. The score was 26-26 when Noga notched her second ace of the set and Leah Swiss delivered the kill for the victory.

Alaska Anchorage never trailed in the second set, opening with a 7-1 lead fueled by a pair of aces by Mikayla Sweet and Morgan Hooe. The Coyotes closed to within 13-12 on a block by Malika O’Brien and Jayann DeHoog, but would not come any closer than three points the rest of the way. Erin Braun, Swiss and Hanson each had two kills down the stretch to secure the win.

A close start to the third set quickly turned San Bernardino’s way with Abbey Vollkommer serving the Coyotes to six winners, with four of those points of UAA attack errors, for a 9-3 advantage. Alaska Anchorage won just five points off their own serve from that point, allowing the Coyotes to open as much as an 11-point lead enroute to the win.

After playing to a 2-2 tie to open the fourth set, Cal State San Bernardino built an 11-7 lead on Torline’s kill and extending it to 17-12 kill on Nicholson’s putaway. The Seawolves came within 18-15 on Swiss’ kill, but the Coyotes came back to win the final seven points to take the frame and tie the match.

The Coyotes never trailed in the deciding frame, opening the fifth with a 4-0 run fueled by a pair of Torline kills. The lead was 6-1 when the Seawolves rallied to come within two on a block by Mackey and Braun. The Coyotes replied with a four-point run of their own and built the 10-4 lead on a block by Brenna McIntosh and DeHoog.

Alaska Anchorage rallied to come within 13-11 on Noga’s ace, her fourth of the match, but Torline managed two more kills to close out the match and the Seawolves’ season.