THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...


Tue. Oct. 22 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Alaska Fairbanks (9-9, 6-4 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (13-5, 8-2 GNAC)
&
Thur., Oct. 24 — 5 pm ADT — Alterowitz Gymnasium — Billings, MT
Alaska Anchorage at Montana State Billings (6-13, 4-6 GNAC)
 
LIVE VIDEO: gnac.tv
LIVE STATS: goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball for Tuesday's match and gnac.tv for Thursday's match
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. (10.20 aps, 0.57 kps, .069 att%, 2.41 dps, 0.65 bps)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, So. (3.81 kps, .242 att%, 2.19 dps, 0.86 bps)
MB—Kayla McGlathery, 6-0, Jr. (2.28 kps, .332 att%, 1.01 bps)
MB—Vera Pluharova, 6-2, Jr. (1.33 kps, .321 att%, 1.33 bps)
OH—Vanessa Hayes, 5-11, Sr. (2.81 kps, .202 att%, 1.33 dps, 0.58 ace/set)
DS—Anjoilyn Vreeland, 5-6, Jr. (3.03 dps, 0.30 aps)
L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, So. (3.63 dps, 0.58 aps, 0.24 ace/set)
 
RIVALRIES RESUME: The second half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season gets under way this week when the Seawolves play their two most common opponents over the years, hosting Alaska Fairbanks on Tuesday and traveling to Montana State Billings on Thursday ... UAA will be trying to avenge one of its two conference losses against UAF, while seeking to sweep the season series from MSUB for the second year in a row.
 
AGONY AND ECSTACY: The Seawolves felt the sting of disappointment when they suffered their first GNAC home loss in a 5-setter to Simon Fraser, before turning around for a 4-set upset of 2nd-ranked Western Washington last week at the Alaska Airlines Center ... on Thursday, Jr. MB Kayla McGlathery slammed a career-high 17 kills and had 8 block assists, but the Seawolves could not close out the Clan after taking the first two sets, falling 15-11 in the 5th ... So. RS Eve Stephens had 16 kills, a career-high 14 digs, 3 aces and 5 blocks, while Fr. OH Hannah Pembroke tied her career high with 11 kills ... So. S Ellen Floyd finished with 48 assists and 10 digs as UAA lost to SFU at home for the first time in 10 all-time meetings ... on Saturday, Sr. OH Vanessa Hayes launched a career-high 18 kills on .381 hitting and Stephens had 15 kills and 13 digs to help UAA snap WWU's 47-match GNAC winning streak, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 26-24 ... Floyd finished with 45 assists and 12 digs, So. L Talia Leauanae had 17 digs, and Pembroke earned 8 kills, including match point, as UAA snapped a 5-match losing streak to WWU and handed the defending NCAA Div. II runners-up their first regular-season loss since 2017.
 
THE SERIES
vs. UAF: UAA leads 71-36 overall, 40-12 in Anchorage
Streak: UAF 2
Last: UAF 3-1 (9-24-19 at UAF)
Notes: UAF's victory last October snapped UAA's series-best 16-match win streak ... UAF has won consecutive victories vs. UAA for the first time since taking five in a row from 2006-08 ... UAA has won eight in a row in Anchorage and is 5-0 vs. UAF at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA leads 26-11 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) and 18-5 under head coach Chris Green (since 2008) ... teams have played at least twice every season since 1980.
 
vs. MSUB: UAA leads 50-11 overall, 23-6 in Billings
Streak: UAA 3
Last: UAA 3-1 (9-28-19 at UAA)
Notes: The Seawolves have won 18 of the past 19 meetings, including sweeps in both matches last year ... UAA had won 15 straight before the Yellowjackets' 3-1 upset in the 2017 season finale in Anchorage ... teams have not played a 5-setter since 2008 ... UAA leads 19-6 since MSUB joined the GNAC in 2007, including 19-4 under Chris Green ... MSUB is UAA's 2nd-most common opponent, trailing only UAF … teams met twice per season every year from 1985-2000 as members of the Pac West.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: Alaska Fairbanks has dropped three straight – including 5-setters to Concordia-Portland and Simon Fraser – since winning seven of nine matches from Sept. 13-Oct. 10 ... the Nanooks are led by Lahra Weber (2.77 kps, .179 att%, 2.30 dps, 0.55 ace/set) and setter Cate Whiting (9.41 aps, 3.00 dps, 0.66 bps) ... still fighting for a spot in the upper half of the GNAC standings, Montana State Billings recently snapped a 5-match losing skid with consecutive wins at Northwest Nazarene and at home against Saint Martin's ... the Yellowjackets are led by Bayli Monck (2.62 kps, .175 att%, 3.08 dps, 0.75 bps) and Maddi Vigil (2.61 kps, .143 att%, 2.67 dps).
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA leads the GNAC with 2.19 aces per set and ranks 2nd in blocks per set (2.50), attack pct. (.230) and opponent attack percentage (.163) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves rank 6th in blocking, 10th in aces and 48th in attack pct. ... the Seawolves are 66-16 (.805) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 112-27 (.806) 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 need two more wins to record their 12th straight winning season, extending the program record that began with Green's arrival at UAA in 2008 ... UAA is also attempting to extend program-best streaks of 10 straight winning conference records and top-4 conference finishes ... the Seawolves are 19-14 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014 and 29-41 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 (3.81) and points per set (4.53), along with ranks of 14th in blocking (0.86 bps) and 18th in attack pct. (.242) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, she is 26th in points and 37th in kills ... playing all rotations after being subbed on the back row last year, Stephens has already recorded a team-high six double-doubles as well, averaging 2.19 dps ... on UAA's career lists, the Palmer native currently ranks 5th in kills per set (3.42) and 7th in attack pct. (.287).
 
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 .202 and collecting 2.81 kills per set ... along with her GNAC-leading 0.58 aces per set (8th nationally), she also ranks 8th in points per set (3.67) and 12th 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 10 of 18 matches this year, including a career-high 18 kills in the 4-set win over No. 2 Western Washington ... 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 (272), 11th in total blocks (293), 15th in kills (832), 15th in matches played (113), 8th in sets played (430) and 5th in victories (87).
 
MORE 'WOLF BITES: So. S Ellen Floyd has  dished 10.20 assists per set to rank 2nd in the conference and 37th nationally, improving her average to 11.05 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 11th on UAA's career list with 1,579 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 9.07 aps ... along with the third-highest digs average on the team (2.41 dps), she also ranks 8th in the GNAC with 0.41 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 6th nationally in that category ... now in her second year as a starter, Pluharova ranks 2nd in the league with 1.33 bps, while McGlathery is 7th with 1.01 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 3rd in the league with a .332 attack pecentage ... meanwhile, Pluharova has recorded at least 6 kills on .300 hitting in five matches, including 9 kills on .438 hittting in the road sweep at Concordia ... the Czech's hitting percentage of .321, which would rank 5th in the GNAC if she met the league minimum of 3.0 attacks per set ... the Seawolves are well stocked at the libero and DS positions, with So. Talia Leauanae and Jr. Anjoilyn Vreeland sharing time in both roles  ... Leauanae ranks 13th in the GNAC with 3.63 digs per set, following her career-high 28-dig effort in the loss to Simon Fraser and her team-high 17 digs in the upset of Western Washington ... a former Dimond High standout, Vreeland sits 19th the GNAC with 3.03 dps, posting double-digit digs in the past four matches ... Vreeland stands  15th on UAA's career list with 3.23 dps ... Fr. DS Maggie Schlueter has made her debut after a redshirt campaign and shown off a dangerous serve, producing 39 aces and just 26 errors ... the Texan is 2nd in the GNAC and ranks 9th nationally with 0.57 aces per set, serving at least one ace in 16 of 18 matches.
 
GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 11 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (246-95, .721) 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 .779 clip (155-44) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .823 (102-22) 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