Matthisen Keys Seawolf Upset of SPU
It was a match that UAA (15-7, 10-4), which came into the weekend ranked eighth in the region, likely needed to win to have a chance to return to next month's NCAA Division II West Regionals for the second year in a row.
The victory also enabled Western Washington (16-2, 13-1), which beat Simon Fraser, 25-16, 25-12, 25-11 Saturday night at Bellingham, to move ahead of Seattle Pacific (21-2, 13-2) in the GNAC standings.
It will also likely enable the nationally 15th ranked Vikings to also pass the Falcons in the national and regional rankings as well. SPU is currently second in the West, while the Vikings are third.
In other matches Saturday, Western Oregon (12-8, 10-5) and Northwest Nazarene (6-15, 6-9) overcame first set losses to defeat Central Washington (10-9, 8-6) and Saint Martin's (2-19, 1-14), respectively, and Alaska Fairbanks (6-14, 4-10) beat Montana State Billings (4-20, 4-11). All three matches went four sets.
In addition to Matthisen who hit .409 (20-2-44), UAA, which still has four regular-season matches remaining, also got 11 kills and six blocks, including three solos from Cortney Lundberg.
Robyn Burton had six blocks and Marie Borowikow had five. Lee Golden contributed eight kills in just 20 attempts.
Nikki Lowell had a career-high 19 kills to lead Seattle Pacific, which also got 17 kills from Sarah Risser, 12 from Lindsey Wodrich and 11 from Paige Hoffman. Setter Shelby Swanson had 51 assists, just one off her career high.
UAA took a 22-19 edge in the first set before Hoffman capped a tying three-point run for the Falcons with a kill.
The Seawolves, however, responded with the final three points, getting consecutive kills from Lundberg and Matthisen, who then combined on the set-clinching block against Hoffman.
SPU evened the match when it pulled away from a 17-16 lead to score the final eight points of the second set, and the Falcons looked in position to take Set 3 with a 20-16 lead in that frame.
But Matthisen sparked a Seawolf rally with a kill and SPU committed back-to-back attack errors to let UAA back into it. Despite falling behind 22-19, the Seawolves surged ahead with six of the final seven rallies, including three kills from Matthisen.
SPU took an early 11-9 in the fourth set before UAA took over. Matthisen served four straight points to give the Seawolves the lead, and SPU would get within one point only one more time, at 14-13.
With a 22-20 advantage, the Seawolves closed the match with consecutive kills from Matthisen and an emphatic spike from Lundberg.
Western Washington 3, Simon Fraser 0
Middle blocker Emily Jepsen had 13 kills and hit for .611 percentage (13-2-18) to power Western Washington to a sweep of Simon Fraser at Sam Carver Gymnasium.
Jepsen's percentage is the fourth best this fall in the GNAC for players with a minimum of 12 kills as the Vikings extended their win streak to eight.
Outside hitter Megan Amundson contributed six service aces, seven kills and five digs for WWU, which has won 24 consecutive sets and are 7-0 at home this season, all sweeps
Libero Allison Gotz had a match-high 14 digs and Jordyn Bailey added 12. Marlayna Geary had eight kills on .538 hitting.
Cheryl Windhorst led the Clan (4-15, 4-11) with eight kills and KJ Fridfinnson had seven.
Western Oregon 3, Central Washington 1
Western Oregon stayed just one-half match back of third-place Alaska Anchorage and opened a 1 1/2 match lead over fifth-place Central Washington with a 18-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-23 victory at Monmouth.
The Wolves were led by Krissi Kemper with 14 kills and Danielle Reese with 12. Also in double figures was Samantha Ward with 10.
Stephanie Beeler had nine kills for Western Oregon and also was credited with seven blocks. Becky Blees also earned seven blocks and setter Jorden Burrows had 46 assists.
Central Washington was paced by Kady Try with 17 kills and Meg Ryan with 12. Erin Smith had six blocks for the Wildcats, while Ryan had five. Brandie Vea had a match-high 32 digs.
WOU was able to win in four sets, despite being outhit .144 to .140. The Wolves had a 7-1 advantage in aces though each team had 11 points on service as the Wolves also were charged with 10 service errors.
Northwest Nazarene 3, Saint Martin's 1
Reisa Fessler finished with a match-high 21 kills to lead Northwest Nazarene to a 23-25, 31-29, 27-25, 25-22 victory at Saint Martin's.
Fessler hit for a season-high .417 and had 21 kills and just one error in a total of 48 swings.
"They didn't have an answer for Fessler tonight," NNU head coach Jared Sliger said.
Joining Fessler in double-figures were Becky Flores and Carly Dranginis. Flores finished with 15 kills and 16 digs, while Dranginis had 11 kills.
Haley Hevern led the Crusaders defensively with 24 digs. Flores had a team-high four blocks.
Kirstyn Druzianich led the Saints with a team season-high 18 kills, while Malia Ibarra had 20 digs.
The Saints had five different set points in the second frame before NNU rallied from a 29-28 deficit, getting kills by Fessler and Dranginis and a service ace by Fessler to win it 31-29.
In the third set NNU was once again facing a set point at 25-24, but a SMU service error, a Dranginis kill and a Saint attack error gave NNU the victory.
Leading 23-22 in the fourth set, NNU then put the match away with back-to-back kills by Flores.
Alaska Fairbanks 3, Montana State Billings 1
Simone Chavous, Erica Gage and Tereza Bendlova combined for 37 kills to lead Alaska Fairbanks to a 25-20, 25-23, 16-25, 25-18 home win over Montana State Billings at The Patty Center.
Chavous had 15 kills and a pair of blocks, while Gage and Bendlova had 11 each as UAF outhit the Yellowjackets .209 to .162.
Setter Mandy Grierson had 35 assists and Jordyn Montgomery accounted for four of the Nanooks' seven service aces.
MSUB was led by Jennifer Boe with 12 kills and 17 digs. Meanwhile Hannah Johnson had 10 kills and six blocks.
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