THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF VOLLEYBALL...

15th annual
EXTENDED STAY DELUXE INVITATIONAL
Wells Fargo Sports Complex - Anchorage, AK
All Times ADT
Friday, Aug. 28
11 am - Ky. Wesleyan (0-0) at Alaska Anchorage (0-0)
1 pm - Mary (0-0) vs Academy of Art (0-0)
5 pm - Mary vs Kentucky Wesleyan
7 pm - Academy of Art at Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, Aug. 29
11 am - Mary at Alaska Anchorage
1 pm - Academy of Art vs Kentucky Wesleyan
5 pm - Consolation match
7 pm - Championship match

ON TV: For the second straight season, delayed broadcasts of UAA volleyball will be shown regularly on local channel KCFT (GCI Cable 19) ... this week, KCFT will re-air the Academy of Art match at 11 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, plus the 3rd-place or championship match at 11 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Monday.

ONLINE: Live versions of the TV broadcasts can be seen on the internet by surfing to GoSeawolves.com.

ON RADIO: UAA student station KRUA 88.1-FM will air all ESDI matches live.

LIVE WEB STATS: For the fifth straight year, all UAA home matches feature live statistics streamed at GoSeawolves.com.

PROBABLE UAA STARTERS (2008 stats/notes)
S-Calli Scott, 5-9, Sr. (10.61 aps, 2.57 dps, .133 att%, 0.42 bps)
MB-Cortney Lundberg, 6-1, Jr. (2.28 kps, .290 att%, 0.93 bps)
MB-Ashley Bates, 6-0, Sr. (1.00 kps, .169 att%, 0.69 bps)
OH-Jackie Matthisen, 5-11, So. (Transfer from Western Oregon)
OH-Marie Borowikow, 6-3, Fr. (Germany)
DS-Nikkie Viotto, 5-8, Fr. (Eagle River HS)
L-Stacie Meisner, 5-8, Sr. (4.51 dps, 58 assists, 0.35 ace/s, 113 SP)

ESDI VISITOR PROFILES
Academy of Art Urban Knights
Location: San Francisco, Calif.
Conference: Pacific West Conference (1st season)
2008 Records (conf. place): 17-12 (independent)

Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers
Location: Owensboro, Ky.
Conference: Great Lakes Valley Conference
2008 Records (conf. place): 7-27, 0-16 (13th)

Mary Marauders
Location: Bismarck, N.D.
Conference: Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conf.
2008 Records (conf. place): 5-27, 3-17 (t-12th)

THE SERIES: UAA has never met any of its ESD Invitational opponents on the volleyball court.

EDSI HISTORY & FORMAT: The Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational will hold its 15th edition in 2009 ... UAA has won its own tournament three times - in 2002, 2003 and 2008 - and has placed runner-up six times. ... the Seawolves have produced the tournament's Most Outstanding Player four times, most recently Calli Scott last year, when UAA topped Texas Woman's in the title match ... the format for the ESDI will remain the same as in recent years with the four teams playing a round-robin pool; the teams with the top two records will face off in Saturday's 7 p.m. title match, preceded by the 5 p.m. consolation match ... an exhaustive list of tiebreakers for pool play will be adhered to if necessary.

BRIEF 2008 RECAP: The Seawolves showed tremendous improvement under first-year head coach Chris Green in 2008, tripling their win total from the previous season and earning the program's first winning record (15-14) since 2003 ... picked to finish 9th (last place) in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll, the Seawolves wound up in 6th place with a 7-9 mark ... after starting the year by winning its own Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational, the Seawolves went on to several big victories, including over then-No. 8 Augustana and league foes Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington ... Sr. OH Rhea Cardwell ranked 4th in Division II in kills per game (4.48) as she became UAA's first-ever volleyball All-American, while Jr. S Calli Scott was named GNAC Newcomer of the Year

BRIEF 2009 PREVIEW: The Seawolves return five letterwinners - including three seniors - from last season's squad ... Sr. S Calli Scott will be UAA's court leader, returning from GNAC Newcomer-of-the-Year and Second Team all-league honors ... Jr. MB Cortney Lundberg led the Seawolves in attack percentage a year ago and earned All-GNAC Honorable Mention accolades, while Sr. L Stacie Meisner, Sr. MB Ashley Bates and So. OH McKenzie Moss also bring experience from last year ... So. OH Jackie Matthisen, who sat out 2008 after transferring from Western Oregon, will provide a dangerous attack on the outside, while head coach Chris Green will count on his recruiting class of six freshmen to come along quickly.

ALUMNI RECAP: Sophomore OHs Jackie Matthisen (14) and McKenzie Moss (10) combined for 24 kills Aug. 22 as UAA had little trouble against a team of Seawolf alumni, delivering a 25-10, 25-23, 25-15, 25-8, 25-19 exhibition sweep ... UAA also got 50 assists and 12 digs from Sr. S Calli Scott, while Matthisen and Sr. L Stacie Meisner led the way with 16 digs apiece ... the Alumni was led by 13 kills and 10 digs from O'Lita McWilliams-Schafer (2002-03), plus 16 digs from libero Cristal Negron (2005-08) ... McWilliams-Schafer's sister, freshman MB Leah McWilliams, was one of several UAA rookies with solid debuts, tallying seven kills on 18 attacks (.278); fellow freshmen Marie Borowikow and Jamie Russell accounted for six and four kills, respectively, as well. Jr. MB Cortney Lundberg garnered the night's best attack percentage at .700 (8 kills-1 error-10 attacks).

SEAWOLF QUICK SETS: Sr. S Calli Scott begins the season ranked 10th on UAA's career assists list (1,199) and should easily move into ninth place before weekend's end ... UAA has no 4-year seniors on this year club, nor will it have any next season ... the Seawolves are 13-16 all-time in season-openers, having dropped their last two in a row.

SEAWOLVES TABBED FOR SEVENTH: UAA was picked to finish seventh in the 2009 GNAC preseason coaches' poll, released Aug. 21. First-place votes are noted in parentheses:

2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coaches' Poll
Rk School (1st-place votes)  2008 Records  Pts
1. Western Washington (6)    21-3 (13-3)   60
2. Western Oregon            22-3 (15-1)   50
3. Northwest Nazarene (2)    16-9 (10-6)   47
4. Seattle Pacific (1)       8-18 (5-11)   43
5. Central Washington        16-12 (8-8)   39
6. Alaska Fairbanks          15-10 (9-7)   33
7. ALASKA ANCHORAGE          15-14 (7-9)   27
8. Montana State Billings    7-23 (4-12)   15
9. Saint Martin's            4-22 (1-15)   8
Notes: Points awarded on a 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis; coaches could not vote for own team