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ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The defense stepped up its game. The offense, however, never quite got untracked for the Seattle Pacific Falcons on Thursday night.
 
Ellie Britt, Shaun Crespi, and Hannah Lautenbach all had seven kills, but unbeaten and No. 8-ranked Alaska Anchorage started quickly, then fought off a stepped-up defensive effort from Seattle Pacific in the final two games to post a three-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball sweep.
 
Scores in the Alaska Airlines Center were 25-13, 25-21, 26-24.
 
The Seawolves (13-0, 5-0 GNAC) tied the school record for longest winning streak. SPU (4-9, 2-3 GNAC) had a two-match winning streak halted.
 
"We got better each set defensively, which was good to see, We got much more disciplined," head coach Chris Johnson said. "But it wasn't enough to overcome our hitting errors."
 
SPU (4-9, 2-3 GNAC) had 23 of those, and finished the night with just an .059 hitting percentage, putting down 31 kills. Anchorage, which has won the last five matches against the Falcons, checked in at .242 hitting (45 kills-15 errors-124 attacks).
 
"They won a lot of broken plays and played very good defense, and they just have big, powerful hitters," Johnson said.
 
The Falcons play at Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. PDT. They will fly into a city that already is covered in snow, as 11 inches fell on Wednesday, although warming temperatures and rain are expected by Friday and Saturday.
 
Freshman setter Symone Tran (Portland, Ore.) had 24 of Seattle Pacific's 27 assists in Thursday's match. Senior libero Breanne Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) came up with 21 digs, and Lautenbach had 13.

 

Senior middle blocker Luisa McInnis (Santa Rosa, Calif.) hit a team-leading .333 with four kills and no errors on 12 attacks. McInnis, recently returned from an injury, made her first start of the season and also had three block assists.
 
"Bre with 21 digs in three sets is awesome – she's upping her average every game," Johnson said of Wiekamp, who began the week ranked No. 49 in NCAA Division II at 5.22 digs per game. "And it was good to see Luisa back in there."
 
Alaska Anchorage sprinted to a 15-4 lead in the first game, never letting SPU get closer than eight. The Seawovles led throughout Game 2 before the Falcons whittled what had been a 19-13 Seawolves advantage down to 22-20, but could come no closer.
 
Seattle Pacific seized the early momentum in Game 3 by scoring the first four points. UAA got back into its groove to take a 21-15 lead, and eventually had two match points at 24-22.
 
But the Falcons weren't finished. A block by Lautenbach and McInnis on a Katelyn Zanders attack cut it to 24-23, and a UAA net violation tied the score at 24. A Zanders kill gave Anchorage another match point at 25-24, and Julia Mackey sealed it with her match-leading 13th kill, this one down the line. Mackey hit .360 for the night.
 
Tran, in addition to her assists, had eight digs, pushing her past 100 for her career. She now has 101.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
 
(No. 8) Alaska Anchorage 3, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Game scores – 25-13, 25-21, 26-24.
 
Service aces – SPU 1, UAA 3 (Leah Swiss 2).
Kills – SPU 31 (Ellie Britt 7, Shaun Crespi 7, Hannah Lautenbach 7), UAA 45 (Julia Mackey 13, Katelyn Zanders 10).
Assists – SPU 27 (Symone Tran 24), UAA 42 (Morgan Hooe 33).
Digs – SPU 62 (Breanne Wiekamp 21, Lautenbach 13), UAA 72 (Kyla Militante-Amper 23).
Block assists / solo – SPU 6 / 0 solo (Luisa McInnis 3 / 0 solo), UAA 8 / 2 solo (Mackey 2 / 1 solo, Alex Garrett 3 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 31-23-136--.059 (McInnis 4-0-12--.333), UAA 45-15-124--.242 (Mackey 13-4-25--.360).
Attendance – 1,339.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 4-9, 2-3 GNAC. Alaska Anchorage 13-0, 5-0 GNAC.
 
Next match – Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks, Saturday, 8:00 p.m. PDT.