Coming close no longer constitutes a moral victory for the University of Alaska Anchorage volleyball program. The Seawolves, ranked 24th in Division II, exhibited their competitive fire on Saturday by upsetting No. 2 California State-San Bernardino at the GNAC Conference Challenge in Monmouth, Ore.
Not only did the Seawolves knock off the defending West region champions, they swept the Coyotes in three straight games, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23. McKenzie Moss led the UAA attack with 16 kills.
The loss marked the first non-conference defeat for the Coyotes in the regular season since 2007. They had not been swept in nearly two years. Even more impressive, UAA was playing shorthanded after starting middle blocker Cortney Lundberg was injured in practice earlier this week.
The Seawolves entered the tournament to get an early-season gauge against some of the best teams in Division II, and they have received that at the GNAC Conference Challenge. On Friday, UAA dropped a pair of hard-fought five-game matches against No. 7 University of California San Diego and 10th-ranked Metro State.
UAA followed that resounding victory by holding off Humboldt State in the tournament's final match. The Seawolves prevailed 24-26, 25-20, 25-15, 19-25, 15-6. Freshman Robyn Burton slammed home a career high 11 kills in the victory.
Saturday's wins improve the Seawolves' record to 4-2 overall.
Contact Kevin Wells at kwells@ktuu.com
