Volleyball | 10/29/2009 9:51:17 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - The Western Oregon volleyball team made a valiant effort to pull off an upset over Great Northwest Athletic Conference leader Alaska Anchorage, but in the end fell in four sets, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22 and 25-20, Thursday (Oct. 29).

The Seawolves (18-7, 10-2 GNAC) rebounded from a one-set deficit to win its eighth-straight conference match and extend its lead in the GNAC standings to one-and-a-half matches with Seattle Pacific loss earlier in the night at Montana State Billings. The loss was the fifth-consecutive for the Wolves as they fell to 4-8 in conference and 7-16 on the season.

Freshmen Samantha Ward and Irene Walters led the Wolves offense as each posted a career-high in kills with 18 and 12, respectively. This was also the highest combined kill total for a Wolves' freshmen duo this season.

"These are a sign of things to come," said WOU head coach Brad Saindon referring his freshmen. "It just takes time to get a feel.

"I thought we played very hard tonight," continued Saindon. "No one can question that the desire is there. Our skills and execution have hurt us, not our desire on the court."

The Wolves were hurt by 30 attack errors compared to just 17 for the Seawolves as they were outhit .154-.245.

The Wolves received double-digit kill performances from Walters (17) and Danielle English (21) while Laura Sakala led the club in blocks (2.5) and Amy Herron in assists (47).

The match began promising for WOU as it fought back to win the first set. The Wolves fell behind early but continued to battle and took their first lead at 22-21 since it was 4-3 early in a set which featured 14 ties. Western Oregon closed out the match by taking three of the final four points including a set-ending slam by senior Laura Sakala.

Both teams went back-and-forth in the second set until WOU went on a 5-0 run to take an 18-13 lead. UAA then responded with a 7-2 run to knot the match at 20-20 and would carry that momentum through the set as it outscored WOU 12-4 down the stretch to tie the match at one set apiece.

In the third set, the Wolves jumped on top early with a 7-1 run. The Seawolves then battled back to within one point at 11-10 before WOU went on a five-point spurt to jump out to a 16-10 lead. However, Alaska Anchorage would not go away and they fought back to take their first lead of the set at 23-22. It then captured the nest two points to go up two sets to one.

The fourth set looked like it could be done early but the Wolves showed their resiliency and battled back on several occasions to keep the set close. WOU was hurt in this set by nine attacking errors compared to only seven kills.

"We haven't quit working in practice and we are getting better everyday as a team," Saindon explained. "One of these days we are going to pull off one of these significant upsets. Tonight we were ahead in a couple of sets but just couldn't put them away."

The Western Oregon volleyball team will close out its home schedule Saturday, Oct. 31, when it takes on Alaska Fairbanks at 7:00 p.m.