Anchorage, Alaska - The Central Washington University volleyball team finished the first weekend of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play against the University of Alaska Anchorage. It was the Wildcats who scratched past the Seawolves 3-2 (25-21, 25-20, 23-25, 22-25, 15-9) on Saturday night. 

The first set featured 10 ties before the Wildcats (8-1) outlasted the Seawolves (7-8) 25-21. The second set was tied at 16 before the Wildcats ripped off a 9-4 run to win the set 25-20. The Wildcats trailed 10-5 in the opening moments of the third set. They stormed back to take a 21-17 lead before the Seawolves snagged the set 25-23. A slow start hindered the Wildcats as the Seawolves jumped out to the same 10-5 lead. They took the fourth set 25-22. The Wildcats gained a 5-1 advantage in the fifth set, before taking the set 15-9. 

"Our middles played very well," head coach Mario Andaya said. "UAA is a good blocking team and did a nice job on our pins, but  Sarah and Julia worked hard in transition and made some huge plays at the net.  It's nice to see our middles step up offensively and be the difference makers." 

The Wildcats featured experience and depth in their offensive attack. Sarah Joffs, Shelby Mauritson and Madison Weg contributed with three kills each in the first set. Joffs led the all players with a season-high 16 kills, with six coming in the second set. Swart smashed home 14 kills, while Mauritson picked up 12 of her own. Gabrielle Aihara assisted on 46 of the Wildcats' 51 kills. 

Julia Mellander led the charge defensively, accumulating a season-high nine blocks on the evening. Kyla Morgan led the squad with 26 digs, while Swart chipped in with 21 of her own. 

CWU joins Concordia (Ore) and Western Washington as the only teams to go 2-0 in the opening weekend of GNAC play. 

"More importantly than being 2-0 to start, is that we got two key road wins against tough teams," Andaya said. "It was a good trip north."  

The Wildcats return home for their GNAC home opener when they take on Simon Fraser on Thursday at 7 p.m. On Saturday, you wont want to miss the Wildcats take on Western Washington, scheduled for a 7 p.m.