ANCHORAGE - Sophomore McKenzie Moss delivered 20 kills and 14 digs Saturday as host Alaska Anchorage earned a chance at defending its title in the Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational with a 18-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-13 victory over the University of Mary at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
The Seawolves (2-1) will get a chance to avenge their only loss when they meet Academy of Art in tonight's 7 p.m. title match. Academy of Art was a 3-0 winner over Kentucky Wesleyan in Saturday's second match (see recap below).
Mary (1-2), which will meet Kentucky Wesleyan for third place at 5 p.m., was led by 12 kills and 21 digs from outside hitter Amanda Hennessy. Lauren Wells paced the visitors from Bismarck, N.D., with 13 kills.
After struggling in the first set, the Seawolves pulled away from a 5-5 tie early in the second to begin their comeback, getting .500 hitting from Moss (8 kills-0 errors-16 attempts) in that frame.
Fellow sophomore outside hitter Jackie Matthisen also came alive midway through the match, finishing with 17 kills on .341 hitting, plus nine digs. Freshman Marie Borowikow was the third Seawolf in double figures with 11 kills. Moss (.400), Matthisen and Borowikow (.346) all topped the .300 attack percentage mark as UAA hit .336 as a team.
Senior setter Calli Scott had her best match of the young season with 48 assists, 10 digs, four kills and pair of block assists, while senior libero Stacie Meisner made 19 digs and served a career-high five aces.
Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational Match 6
ANCHORAGE - Outside hitters Jelena Jakovljevic and Dan Yang combined for 19 of their team's 36 kills Saturday as Academy of Art downed Kentucky Wesleyan, 25-16, 25-14, 25-13 in the sixth and final match of round-robin play at the Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational volleyball tournament.
Setter Melissa Cheng netted 26 assists, while libero Nicolette Hagan had a match-high 12 digs and three of her squad's 13 aces. The Urban Knights, from San Francisco and the Pacific West Conference, out-hit the Panthers .338 to .090 as they overcame early deficits in each set.
KWC (0-3), from the Great Lakes Valley Conference, got seven kills from reserve outside hitter Emily Harpenau in the loss.
KWC will face the University of Mary (N.D.) in the 5 p.m. consolation match, while AAU will play host and defending champion Alaska Anchorage for the title at 7 p.m.
