UAA, the No. 6 seed, also got a match-high seven blocks from senior middle blocker Cortney Lundberg in her final match, plus eight kills on .368 hitting from sophomore right-side hitter Marie Borowikow. The Seawolves finished the season with an 18-9 overall record and their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance.
WWU (20-3), the No. 3 seed, was led by 15 kills from senior outside hitter Megan Amundson and 13 kills and six total blocks from Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year Emily Jepsen. The Vikings now move on to Friday’s 5 p.m. PST semifinal against either fellow GNAC co-champion Seattle Pacific or Cal State-Los Angeles.
“Our passing was off today and our offense subsequently couldn’t get in a consistent rhythm,” said UAA head coach Chris Green, who ends his third season at the helm with a 56-31 overall record. “After we fought back to tie the first set at 24, I thought we might be in good shape, but things never materialized.”
The Seawolves did rally from a 13-10 deficit in the third set to tie it 15-15 and take the lead for good on a Jepsen service error that made it 19-18. Matthisen served an ace and freshman setter Siobhan Johansen (18 assists, 6 digs) converted a sneak attack to make it 21-18, and UAA would pull away to take their lone set.
UAA forged a 12-8 lead in the fourth set and was tied at 14-14 when Jepsen and Amundson combined to block Lundberg, starting a three-point WWU run from which the Seawolves would never recover.
“I’m proud of how hard this team worked to get here,” said Green, whose team overcame multiple injuries to key players throughout the season to finish third place in the GNAC. “Making the playoffs in a region this tough is a worthy accomplishment, but we also know we had the ability to advance, so we’re definitely disappointed right now.”
Unfortunately, one of those injuries occurred Thursday when starting outside hitter McKenzie Moss dived to save a ball late in the first set and injured her shoulder. UAA’s second-leading kills producer would not return after playing a solid opening frame with one kill, no errors, one ace and three digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Shelby Hollister stepped into the lineup for Moss and had three kills, while junior right-side hitter Lee Golden collected four of her seven kills in the first set.
Freshman libero Quincy Haught led UAA with 12 digs, sophomore defensive specialist Nikkie Viotto had 11 digs and sophomore setter Adriana Aukusitino managed 11 assists and 10 digs in the loss.
Freshman Robyn Burton, who entered No. 6 in the country with 1.26 blocks per set, recorded four blocks – including two solos – but she and fellow middle blocker Lundberg had just three kills apiece.
Lundberg, a first-team all-conference performer from Hardin, Mont., is the only player the Seawolves lose to graduation this year.
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