THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...


Thu. Oct. 3 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Central Washington (8-4, 3-1 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (8-4, 3-1 GNAC)
&
Sat., Oct. 5 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Northwest Nazarene (5-6, 1-3 GNAC [10/3 @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: gnac.tv
 
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAVolleyball Twitter feed for in-match updates.
 
CLAWS OUT: The Seawolves face a major hurdle in their quest to return to the NCAA Tournament when they host the Central Washington Wildcats on Thursday, with the winner claiming sole possession of third place at the quarter pole in the GNAC race ... another major rival in recent seasons, Northwest Nazarene visits the Alaska Airlines Center on Saturday.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK: UAA split against its most common opponents last week, falling at Alaska Fairbanks (21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-22) and defeating Montana State Billings (25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 25-10) at the Alaska Airlines Center ... on Tuesday, So. RS Eve Stephens had a match-high 15 kills but the Seawolves were hurt by 15 service errors as their 4-match winning streak was stopped ... Jr. MB Kayla McGlathery notched 10 kills on .571 hitting and 5 total blocks as UAA suffered its first 2-match losing streak vs. UAF since 2008 ... returning home for the first time in three weeks on Saturday, Stephens slammed 22 kills on .405 hitting and So. S Ellen Floyd tied her season high with 52 assists to fend off the Yellowjackets ... Fr. OH Hannah Pembroke (11 kills), Jr. MB Vera Pluharova (10 kills) and Sr. OH Vanessa Hayes (5 aces) all set or tied career highs in the victory.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2019 stats)
S—Ellen Floyd, 5-10, So. (9.80 aps, 0.59 kps, .079 att%, 2.28 dps, 0.61 bps)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, So. (4.02 kps, .262 att%, 2.02 dps, 0.89 bps)
MB—Kayla McGlathery, 6-0, Jr. (1.93 kps, .269 att%, 0.93 bps)
MB—Vera Pluharova, 6-2, Jr. (1.36 kps, .364 att%, 1.36 bps)
OH—Vanessa Hayes, 5-11, Sr. (2.80 kps, .207 att%, 1.41 dps, 0.70 ace/set)
DS—Anjoilyn Vreeland, 5-6, Jr. (2.98 dps, 0.35 aps)
L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, So. (3.00 dps, 0.67 aps, 0.20 ace/set)
 
THE SERIES
vs. CWU: UAA leads 25-20 overall, 13-10 in Anchorage
Streak: CWU 2 / Last: CWU 3-0 (11-8-18 at CWU) / Notes: CWU has won three of the last four after UAA took six straight from 2014-16 ... UAA is 4-1 at the Alaska Airlines Center vs. CWU ... the Seawolves are 16-6 vs. CWU under head coach Chris Green ... of the 22 meetings since 2008, nine have gone 5 sets and five have gone 4 sets, with the Seawolves winning 13 of those 14 contests ... series tied 18-18 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) … teams have met every season since 1999 ... first meeting was a 2-1 UAA neutral-court win in 1980 ... teams did not meet between 1983-98.
 
vs. NNU: Tied 19-19 overall; UAA leads 13-6 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 3 / Last: UAA 3-1 (11-10-18 at NNU) / Notes: UAA has won seven of the last eight meetings and five in a row at home ... the Seawolves are 5-1 vs. NNU at the Alaska Airlines Center, including a meeting in the 2016 NCAA Tournament 2nd Round ... UAA's 3-0  home win last year marked its first sweep of the Nighthawks since 2011 ... eight of the last nine and 18 of the last 20 matches have been 4- or 5-set affairs ... UAA is 15-8 vs. NNU under Chris Green ... series tied 18-18 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) … NNU won first meeting in 2000, 3-1, in Nampa.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: After starting the year nationally ranked and tied atop the GNAC preseason coaches' poll, Central Washington comes north with identical overall and league records as UAA ... the Wildcats have won four of their last five, with their lone GNAC loss coming at No. 2 Western Washington ... CWU is led by Makala Swart (3.29 kps, .205 att%, 3.39 dps, 0.55 bps) and former Seawolf Diana Fa'amausili (2.54 kps, .286 att%, 1.02 bps) ... Northwest Nazarene has dropped three of its last four as it prepares for Thursday's match at Alaska Fairbanks ... the Nighthawks, from Nampa, Idaho, are led by Brooke Foster (3.49 kps, .206 att%, 3.28 dps) and Abbey Blum (2.91 kps, .158 att%, 3.00 dps).
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA leads the GNAC with 2.28 aces per set and a .156 opponent attack percentage, while ranking 2nd in blocks per set (2.50) and attack pct. (.230) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves rank 5th in blocks per set and 12th in aces per set ... the Seawolves are 63-15 (.808) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 109-26 (.807) at home since 2009; UAA has never lost consecutive matches at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA has reached the 20-win plateau 14 times in 39 years and the six times in 11 years under Chris Green ... the Seawolves recorded their 11th straight winning season in 2018, extending the program record that began wTUith Green's arrival at UAA in 2008 ... UAA also extended program-best streaks of 10 straight winning conference records and top-4 conference finishes ... the Seawolves are 18-14 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014 and 28-41 overall vs. ranked opponents under Green; prior to Green's arrival, UAA had lost 32 straight to ranked foes ... UAA set an Alaska Airlines Center record for attack percentage in the 25-8, 25-12, 25-12 win over Concord, hitting .444 (37-9-63), while the Mountain Lions' 32 points were the second-fewest allowed by a Seawolf club since 25-point rally scoring took effect in 2008.
 
ROCKIN' EVE: Rightside hitter Eve Stephens delivered one of the best rookie seasons in Seawolf history last year, claiming unanimous First Team All-GNAC, Second Team All-West Region and GNAC Freshman of the Year honors, and this year she has started with All-GNAC Preseason Team, all-tournament honors at both the D2 West Region Showcase and Seawolf Invitational, and most recently the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week for Sept. 16-22 ... in the current GNAC stats, the former Colony High School star leads the way in kills per set (4.02) and points per set (4.70), along with ranks of 11th in blocking (0.89 bps) and 14th in attack pct. (.262) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, she is 14th in points and 24th in kills ... with 83 kills in the last 18 sets, she is now on pace to become the first Seawolf since Jackie Matthisen in 2009 to average more than 4.00 kps ... playing all rotations after being subbed on the back row last year, Stephens has already recorded four double-doubles as well, averaging 2.02 dps.
 
HAYES MAKER: Sr. OH Vanessa Hayes made the move from middle blocker to outside hitter last year and showed steady improvement, averaging 2.56 kps on .189 hitting ... a Preseason All-GNAC selection in her final campaign, Hayes has looked like a veteran on the outside this year, hitting .207 and collecting 2.80 kills per set ... along with her GNAC-leading 0.70 aces per set, she also ranks 9th in points per set (3.88) and 16th in kills per set ... in the national stats, she is 6th in aces ... the Oregon native earned her third career double-double with 14 kills and a career-high 13 digs in the 5-set win over Biola and has produced double-digit kills in eight of 12 matches this year ... a starter on UAA's 2016 NCAA Runner-Up squad, she ranks in UAA's career top 20 lists in multiple categories, currently at 7th in block assists (263), 11th in total blocks (284) and 16th in kills (767) and 6th in victories; she needs just six more kills to move into the top 15 on that list.
 
MORE 'WOLF BITES: So. S Ellen Floyd has dished 9.80 assists per set to rank 4th in the GNAC stats, earning all-tournament honors at both the Seawolf Invitational and D2 West Region Showcase ... a Florida native, Floyd already stands 13th on UAA's career list with 1,326 assists, boosted by season-high 52-assist efforts in recent 4-set wins over Saint Martin's and MSU Billings ... Floyd also ranks 9th in the GNAC with 0.43 aces per set ... Jr. MB Vera Pluharova and Jr. MB Kayla McGlathery give UAA two front-liners among the GNAC's top-10 blocking leaders ... now in her second year as a starter, Pluharova ranks 2nd in the league with 1.36 bps, while McGlathery is 8th with 0.93 bps ... the 2014 GNAC Newcomer of the Year and an all-league pick, McGlathery has returned to the Seawolves this season after taking four years off from the sport and currently ranks 12th in the league with a .269 attack pecentage ... meanwhile, Pluharova is coming off a career-high-tying 10 kills against MSU Billings, improving the Czech's hitting percentage to a team-high .364, which would rank 2nd in the GNAC if she met the league minimum of 3.0 attacks per set ... boosted by 27 digs in the loss to Regis, Jr. L/DS Anjoilyn Vreeland ranks 19th in the early GNAC stats with 2.98 dps ... Fr. DS Maggie Schlueter has made her debut after a redshirt campaign and shown off a dangerous serve, producing 28 aces and just 17 errors ... the Texan is 3rd in the GNAC and ranks 14th nationally with 0.61 aces per set, serving at least one ace in every match but the loss at No. 2 Cal State San Bernardino.
 
GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 11 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (241-94, .719) has established himself as the most successful coach in program history and one of the top mentors in the NCAA Div. II ranks, earning the 2016 AVCA D-II National Coach of the Year award ... a 4-time GNAC Coach of the Year (2009, '13, '15, '16) and 3-time AVCA D-II West Region Coach of the Year (2009, '15, '16), Green has led UAA to NCAA Tournament berths in seven of the last nine seasons, capturing No. 1 seeds in 2015 and 2016; in the 28 years before Green's arrival, the Seawolves made two NCAAs ... UAA has won at an .777 clip (150-43) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .822 (97-21) in league play ... Green's UAA teams have produced six All-Americans, five GNAC Players of the Year, six GNAC Newcomers of the Year and five GNAC Freshmen of the Year ... hired in Feb. 2008 as the sixth coach in UAA Volleyball history, Green spent the previous nine seasons (1999-07) as the head coach at Western Nebraska Community College, where he built a powerhouse program ... among his list of accomplishments at WNCC were a 453-55 record, the 2007 NJCAA Div. I national championship, 2006 NJCAA runner-up, and four straight 'Final 4' berths ... the Cougars finished in the top 10 at the national tournament in all of Green's seasons, producing a total of 10 first-team and six second-team All-America certificates ... in 2011, he was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame.
 
2019 INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Ellen Floyd
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
D2 West Region Showcase All-Tournament Team
Vanessa Boyer
GNAC Preseason Team
Eve Stephens
GNAC Preseason Team
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
D2 West Region Showcase All-Tournament Team
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 16-22