ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Central Washington University volleyball team hit the road for Great Northwest Athletic Conference play as the took on the University of Alaska Anchorage. The Wildcats stumbled against the Seawolves 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-18) on Thursday night. 

The Alaskan Airlines Center proved to be a tough place to play for the Wildcats (8-5, 3-2) as they took on the Seawolves (9-4, 4-1). The Seawolves held the Wildcats to a .163 hitting percentage while hitting .302 on their home court. The Wildcats were forced into 19 attack errors while the Seawolves had eight total blocks. 

"Tonight was disappointing," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "Not the type of effort we expected to give. UAA Did a nice job defensively and kept good pressure on us. They were in system a lot and we were flat offensively. I saw sparks of good moments but any time of consistent just wasn't there tonight." 

The opening moments of the first set featured back and forth action between the two squads. The Seawolves were able to work their way to a 6-4 lead. Ashley Kaufman had kills that book-ended a 4-0 run that gave the Wildcats an 8-6 lead. 

Later in the set, the Seawolves pulled to within one as the Wildcats led 9-8. Makala Swart smashed home a kill that started a 7-3 run that favored the Wildcats. During the run, Gabrielle Aihara had an ace and a kill. 

Suddenly, momentum swung into the corner of the home team. A kill from Kayla McGlathery started a 9-2 run for the Seawolves. The run gave the Seawolves a 20-18 lead. The Wildcats answered with two consecutive points that tied the set at 20. The Seawolves used a 5-2 run to secure the set 25-22. 

The Seawolves momentum continued into the second set as the ripped off a 12-4 run. Another 5-3 run from the Seawolves urged coach Andaya to call a timeout. The timeout didn't hinder the Seawolves, as they tacked on a 6-2 run that pushed the team's lead to 23-9. 

The Wildcats put together a Herculean effort to get back into the second set. In total, it was a  12-1 run that cut the Seawolves lead  to 24-21. The run was highlighted by four kills from Swart, Bridgette Webb had three kills and Kyla Morgan had an ace. The Seawolves were able to find the final point they needed to take the set 25-21.

The Seawolves benefited from another explosive start to a set. This time, it was an 8-4 run. The teams traded two consecutive points until the score landed on 10-6 in favor of the Seawolves. The set went back and forth until the Seawolves started to scoot away. Quickly, the Seawolves led 20-13. The Wildcats started to mount a comeback with a small 4-1 run. The Seawolves answered with one of their own to take the set 25-18 and the match in three sets. 

Swart led the Wildcats with 11 kills. Kaufman finished with a double-double for the Wildcats. Kaufman had 10 kills while adding 11 digs. Webb was efficient in her offensive attacks. Webb added seven kills on a team-high .278 hitting percentage. Webb was also tough to deal with at the net, coming up with two assisted blocks on the night. 

Aihara distributed the ball well. The senior setting had 32 assists while adding 13 digs to the Wildcats defensive effort. Morgan led all players with 21 digs. 

The Wildcats trip to Alaska continues as the team takes on the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The game is set for Saturday at 3 p.m. PT.