ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University volleyball team faced a 2-1 match deficit against the University of Alaska Anchorage. The Wildcats stayed the course and were able to grind out a 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 19-25, 25-22, 15-10) victory over the Seawolves on Saturday night. 
 
The Wildcats (14-8, 9-5) found a way to beat to the Seawolves (16-6, 11-3) on their home floor. The Wildcats had 60 total kills, just two more than the visitors. They also had 58 assists to the Seawolves 53. The Wildcats biggest advantage came from behind the service line. The team had nine aces, three more than the Seawolves. Gabrielle Aihara led the Wildcats with three aces, while Ashley Kaufman and Sydney Remsberg added two aces each. 
 
"I'm super proud how the girls came through," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "It looked pretty bleak for a while. We couldn't muster anything through. Anchorage was imposing their will offensively. We stayed the course. We stayed relentless from behind the service line. We got them out of system and took advantage of that. When they were in system, they were tough to stop."
 
After taking the opening set, the Wildcats dropped sets two and three and were facing a 2-1 match deficit. The Seawolves rode momentum into the fourth set and were able to grab an 8-4 lead over the Wildcats. An attack error from the Seawolves opened the door for the Wildcats to go on a run. They pieced together an 8-2 run that gave the team a 12-10 lead. Makala Swart had three kills during that time. 
 
Later in the set, the Wildcat lead was trimmed to 15-14. The Wildcats found another run. This time, it was an 8-3 run that gave them a 23-17 lead. Sierra Sharma had the kill that started the run. Bridgette Webb added two kills to the Wildcat attack during that span. The Wildcats found the final two points they needed to take a 25-22 set win and force a fifth set. 

"I was really proud of our bench and the people who were ready to come in," Coach Andaya added. "We knew it was going to be a different kind of lineup midway through, and they really bought into that. Sierra [Sharma] and Diana [Fa'amausili] gave us another look and that was huge."
 
The Wildcats opened the final set on fire, raging to a 7-2 lead. Julia Mellander was crucial, racking up three kills during the hot start. The Seawolves didn't go away. They used a 6-2 run to cut the Wildcat lead to 8-7. Mellander sparked a 7-3 run that gave the Wildcats the set win. During that run, the Wildcats scored five unanswered points. Appropriately, Webb had the final kill of the night that gave the Wildcats a 15-10 set win. Webb finished the match with an outstanding 18 kills on a .325 hitting percentage. 
 
"Our middles had a great game," Coach Andaya stated. "Bridgette [Webb] was so active out there. She was putting a lot of pace on the ball. They had trouble stopping her. Julia [Mellander] really came through in the clutch too. She was super active. The setters trusted them. Even if they made an error, we continued to run the middle. I'm super encouraged that our setters are trusting those guys. 
 
"I thought we played really hard. We went out there with the mindset of playing to win instead of playing not to lose," Webb said. "I thought we did a great job of going after them with the shots we know will work. We stayed positive throughout the whole game and it payed off." 
 
Swart added another double-double to her season total on Saturday. She finished the match with 14 kills and 17 digs. Both were the second best on the team in each category. Mellander set a new season-best in kills, racking up 12 during the match. Aihara and Remsberg had strong nights distrubted the ball. Aihara led the team with 31 assists, while Remsberg had 22 assists. 
 
Defensively, Kyla Morgan led the way with 23 digs. Mellander had six assisted blocks. Swart also added four assisted blocks. The Seawolves made 23 attack errors and hit .194 for the match. 
 
The Wildcats were able to pick up two five-set victories during the week. They've evened their season series with both the Seawolves and Alaska Fairbanks with the performances.  
 
"They are two big wins," Coach Andaya said. "Wherever this leads us, we'll take it. We're super encouraged by what is in front of us. This one is nice, we need to celebrate these things. It's super encouraging, for sure." 
 
It'll be a quick turnaround for the Wildcats as they return to action on Tuesday. The team travels to Nampa, Idaho for a match against Northwest Nazarene at 6 p.m.