LACEY, Wash. – The Saint Martin's women's volleyball team (13-14, 3-14 GNAC) haven't taken two sets on the University of Alaska (17-12, 7-10 GNAC) since 2017, but on Thursday night they did that and nearly pulled the upset with a back-and-forth five-set slugfest that resulted in a 3-2 (21-25, 25-15, 25-16, 23-25, 15-12) win for the squad from Fairbanks.
The way the first set was played had five-set match written all over it. Neither team got a lead bigger than three until mid-way through the set when a
Britney Duvall kill made it 18-14 Saints. The Nanooks responded in kind with a run that made it 18-19 SMU in front, but Saint Martin's found a way to hold the lead after
Tia Allen had a monstrous kill to make it 20-18. The set point finally came on a beautiful
Mackenzie Gilchrist ace that finished with a four-point win for the Saints.
Second and third set wins for UAF meant that the fourth was a must-win for Saint Martin's. They took command early with a three-point run including a shared block from Duvall and
Jennifer Soha, a solo block from Soha, and a kill from Allen. With the score tied at 17-17, SMU locked in on the victory using a five-point run as Allen served to lock into the driver's seat. It started with an Allen kill, then featured a Soha kill as well as a kill from
Emmy Hansen. Allen capped the run with an ace to make it 22-17. In front of a roaring crowd at Marcus Pavilion, the Saints eventually cemented the fourth set victory after a bad serve by Fairbanks.
In the fifth, Alaska got off to a better start and despite a late surge from the Saints, Fairbanks was able to come up with the 15-12 win and take the match 3-2. Allen led the way for a fairly evenly split offense with 14 kills, as well as 16 digs. Soha grabbed six blocks, while setter
Karla Soto had the most sets of anybody in the conference on the night, with 36.
The Saints will close out the season with a home contest against No. 5 ranked Alaska-Anchorage (36-2, 16-1 GNAC) on Saturday, November 12
th. Senior day festivities will start just before gametime which is scheduled for 5 PM.
