THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...


Thu. Oct. 17 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Simon Fraser (9-7, 5-3 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (12-4, 7-1 GNAC)
&
Sat., Oct. 19 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
#2 Western Washington (16-0, 8-0 GNAC [10/17 @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.
TICKETS: AlaskaAirlinesCenter.com
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2019 stats)
S—Ellen Floyd, 5-10, So. (10.18 aps, 0.55 kps, .073 att%, 2.40 dps, 0.63 bps)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, So. (3.87 kps, .251 att%, 2.07 dps, 0.85 bps)
MB—Kayla McGlathery, 6-0, Jr. (2.19 kps, .328 att%, 0.97 bps)
MB—Vera Pluharova, 6-2, Jr. (1.40 kps, .333 att%, 1.34 bps)
OH—Vanessa Hayes, 5-11, Sr. (2.82 kps, .206 att%, 1.43 dps, 0.63 ace/set)
DS/L—Anjoilyn Vreeland, 5-6, Jr. (3.10 dps, 0.32 aps)
DS/L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, So. (3.21 dps, 0.53 aps, 0.28 ace/set)
 
CLASH OF THE (GNAC) TITANS: The top four teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings meet in Alaska this week as 4th-place Simon Fraser and league leader Western Washington make their annual treks to Anchorage and Fairbanks ... Saturday's matches mark the midpoint of the 20-match GNAC season ... Western Washington, the defending NCAA Div. II national runner-up, is seeking its third straight GNAC title after UAA took the crown in 2015 and 2016.
 
OREGON NAIL(BITERS): The Seawolves barely escaped with their 11th and 12th consecutive wins in the state of Oregon with a 28-26, 25-20, 25-20 sweep of Concordia-Portland and a 26-24, 25-17, 21-25, 16-25, 15-13 squeaker over Western Oregon last week ... on Thursday, Sr. OH Vanessa Hayes tallied 14 kills, 7 digs, 2 aces and 3 blocks to help UAA remain unbeaten in nine all-time meetings against the Cavaliers ... So. S Ellen Floyd had 41 assists and 15 digs and Jr. MB Vera Pluharova totaled 9 kills on .438 hitting and 6 blocks as five different Seawolves had at least 7 kills ... behind 16 digs from Jr. L/DS Anjoilyn Vreeland and 8 digs from Fr. DS Katie Hoeffner, UAA's 73 digs were its most in a 3-setter since Nov. 9, 2017 ... on Saturday, So. RS Eve Stephens launched 16 kills, including match point, as UAA fended off a Western Oregon comeback despite losing the statistical battle in nearly every major category ... Jr. MB Kayla McGlathery keyed the offense with 12 kills on .571 hitting, Hayes had 11 kills and three of UAA's 13 aces, and Vreeland accounted for 17 digs in the Seawolves' 13th consecutive victory over the Wolves.
 
THE SERIES
vs. SFU: UAA leads 17-1 overall, 9-0 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 2
Last: UAA 3-0 (10-20-18 at UAA)
Notes: UAA won the first 15 matches in series history, taking 45 of 52 sets overall from Sept. 23, 2010 (3-0 home win) to Oct. 5, 2017 (3-2 home win) ... SFU's lone victory was a 3-0 sweep in Burnaby, Nov. 4, 2017 ... SFU joined the GNAC in 2010.
 
vs. WWU: WWU leads 36-17 overall, 20-9 in Anchorage
Streak: WWU 5
Last: WWU 3-1 (10-18-18 at UAA)
Notes: All five wins in WWU's current streak have come in 4 sets ... two of the last six meetings have occurred in the NCAA Tournament, with UAA taking a 3-1 victory in the 2016 NCAA West Regional title match, before WWU answered with a 3-1 win in the 2017 opening round ... the road team has won 11 of the last 16 meetings (not including neutral courts) ... 13 of the last 18 matches have gone 4 or 5 sets ... WWU has won seven regular-season matches in a row against UAA in Anchorage ... the Seawolves are 10-15 against WWU under Chris Green (since 2008) ... WWU won 17 straight from 2001-08 … WWU leads 27-9 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) … teams have met every year since 2000 … series started in 1980.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: Simon Fraser has won three in a row and four of its last five ­­– with the only loss coming against league leader Western Washington – to ascend to a 4th-place tie in the GNAC standings ... the Clan, from Burnaby, British Columbia, are led by Betsie de Beer (2.97 kps, .249 att%, 2.85 dps), Kirsten Pinckney (2.95 kps, .178 att%) and Julia Tays (9.64 aps, 2.20 dps) ... defending GNAC champion and NCAA runner-up Western Washington has won 45 straight regular-season matches and 46 straight GNAC matches as it preps for Thursday's contest at Alaska Fairbanks ... the nationally 2nd-ranked Vikings have won 24 of their 28 GNAC sets this season, led by freshman Calley Heilborn (3.50 kps, .274 att%, 3.57 dps, 0.66 bps), preseason player-of-the-year Kayleigh Harper (3.09 kps, .359 att%, GNAC-best 1.36 bps) and setter Malia Aleaga (GNAC-best 12.02 aps).
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA's five-match win streak equals its longest since the beginning of the 2018 season and is its longest GNAC streak since winning six straight from Oct. 13-28, 2017 ... the Seawolves' last string of at least seven wins came with 13 straight on their run to the 2016 NCAA Title Match ... UAA leads the GNAC with 2.28 aces per set and rank 2nd in blocks per set (2.47), attack pct. (.233) and opponent attack percentage (.157) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves rank 4th in aces, 8th in blocking and 43rd in attack pct. ... the Seawolves are 65-15 (.813) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 111-26 (.810) 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 with 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 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 (3.87) and points per set (4.55), along with ranks of 14th in blocking (0.85 bps) and 16th in attack pct. (.251) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, she is 23rd in points and 27th in kills ... playing all rotations after being subbed on the back row last year, Stephens has already recorded four double-doubles as well, averaging 2.07 dps ... on UAA's career lists, the Palmer native currently ranks 5th in both kills per set (3.42) and attack pct. (.294).
 
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 .206 and collecting 2.82 kills per set ... along with her GNAC-leading 0.63 aces per set (5th nationally), she also ranks 8th in points per set (3.67) and 13th in kills per set ... 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 nine of 16 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 (269), 11th in total blocks (290), 15th in kills (807) and 5th in victories (86).
 
MORE 'WOLF BITES: So. S Ellen Floyd has  dished 10.18 assists per set to rank 2nd in the conference and 36th nationally, improving her average to 11.28 aps in GNAC matches ... having started the year with all-tournament honors at both the Seawolf Invitational and D2 West Region Showcase, the Florida native already stands 12th on UAA's career list with 1,486 assists, boosted by season-high 52-assist efforts in 4-set wins over Saint Martin's and MSU Billings; she is 5th in terms of career assists average at 9.01 aps ... along with the third-highest digs average on the team (2.40 dps), she also ranks 6th 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 and are a huge reason the Seawolves rank 8th nationally in that category ... now in her second year as a starter, Pluharova ranks 2nd in the league with 1.34 bps, while McGlathery is 7th with 0.97 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 4th in the league with a .328 attack pecentage ... meanwhile, Pluharova has recorded at least 6 kills on .300 hitting in five matches, including 9 kills on .438 hittting in last week's sweep at Concordia ... the Czech's team-high hitting percentage of .333, which would rank 3rd in the GNAC if she met the league minimum of 3.0 attacks per set ... boosted by 33 digs in eight sets last week, Jr. L/DS Anjoilyn Vreeland ranks 15th in the GNAC stats with 3.10 dps ... the former Dimond High standout also stands 15th on UAA's career list with 3.27 dps in her 1.5 seasons ... Fr. DS Maggie Schlueter has made her debut after a redshirt campaign and shown off a dangerous serve, producing 34 aces and just 21 errors ... the Texan is 3rd in the GNAC and ranks 11th nationally with 0.57 aces per set, serving at least one ace in 14 of 16 matches.
 
GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 11 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (245-94, .723) 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 a .782 clip (154-43) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .828 (101-21) 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 Hayes
GNAC Preseason Team
Kayla McGlathery
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 30-Oct. 6
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