Alaska Anchorage slips by Hawai‘i Hilo 3-2 in NCAA II West Region Quarterfinal match in San Bernardino, CA

(Courtesy Cal State San Bernardino Sports Information)

SAN BERNARDINO, CA - University of Alaska Anchorage rallied from a 10-7 deficit in the fifth game Thursday night to take the set 15-12 and advance to the semifinals of the NCAA II West Region Tournament with a 3-2 victory over Hawai‘i Hilo at Cal State San Bernardino.

Box Score

The #5 Seawolves (22-6) jumped a 2-0 lead before seeing the #4 Vulcans rally to even the match at 2-2 - setting up the deciding set. UHH ends its season with a 25-2 overall record.

Jackie Mattison led Alaska Anchorage with 19 kills, while McKenzie Moss had 11 kills. Setter Calli Scott posted 45 assists and Cortney Lundberg contributed eight kills and six blocks. Libero Stacie Meisner had a match-high 29 digs.

The PacWest Champion Vulcans were led by Kawena Cubi-Otineru and Josimara Pinheiro (right, top) with 12 kills each, while Morgan Bonney (left) tacked on 11 kills and four block assists.

Neither team hit well as the Seawolves produced a .112 mark and the Vulcans hit .118. In a rarity, both teams hit .000 in the first set.

The Seawolves advance to the regional semifinals to face the winner of the Cal State San Bernardino-Seattle Pacific match at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Hawai‘i Hilo had a statistical edge, leading in kills (58-51) and assists (56-48), but the Seawolves outblocked the Vulcans 15-9 and prevailed in teh marathon match 29-27, 28-26, 21-25, 25-16, 15-12.

The match was deadlocked 32 times and there were 13 lead changes. Fourteen of the ties were in the seesaw second set.

Alaska Anchorage avenged an early-season 3-0 sweep by the Vulcans in non-conference play.