THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...

Thu. Oct. 31 — 5 pm ADT — Johnson Sports Center — Nampa, Idaho
Alaska Anchorage (15-5, 10-2 GNAC) at Northwest Nazarene (10-9, 6-6 GNAC)
&
Sat., Nov. 2 — 6 pm ADT — Nicholson Pavilion — Ellensburg, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage at Central Washington (12-8, 7-5 GNAC [10/31 vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO & STATS: gnac.tv
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAVolleyball Twitter feed for in-match updates.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2019 stats)
S—Ellen Floyd, 5-10, So. (10.12 aps, 0.54 kps, .068 att%, 2.51 dps, 0.65 bps)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, So. (3.79 kps, .243 att%, 2.23 dps, 0.85 bps)
MB—Kayla McGlathery, 6-0, Jr. (2.29 kps, .328 att%, 1.00 bps)
MB—Vera Pluharova, 6-2, Jr. (1.37 kps, .326 att%, 1.26 bps)
OH—Vanessa Hayes, 5-11, Sr. (2.74 kps, .201 att%, 1.31 dps, 0.58 ace/set)
DS—Anjoilyn Vreeland, 5-6, Jr. (2.85 dps, 0.27 ace/set)
L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, So. (3.87 dps, 0.62 aps, 0.23 ace/set)
 
PLAYOFF RACE INTENSIFIES: With eight matches left in the regular season and the first official NCAA Div. II West Region rankings set for Nov. 6, the Seawolves face tough tests this week at Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington ... UAA enters the week in second place in the GNAC, just one match behind Western Washington and one ahead of Simon Fraser.
 
'WOLVES DISPATCH RIVALS: It took nine sets, but UAA survived tough tests last week against its two most common foes, defeating Alaska Fairbanks 20-25, 25-11, 23-25, 14-25, 15-11 at the Alaska Airlines Center and earning a 28-26, 15-25, 25-15, 25-10 road win over Montana State Billings ... Sr. MB Kayla McGlathery notched 13 kills on .360 hitting and 8 block assists to help the Seawolves avoid a third straight loss to the Nanooks on Tuesday, while So. S Ellen Floyd had 46 assists, 14 digs and 6 block assists ... Jr. MB Vera Pluharova added a career-high 11 kills on .474 hitting and Jr. DS Anjoilyn Vreeland capped a 5th-set comeback with four straight aces to close the match ... Vreeland's 7 total aces were the most by a Seawolf since the NCAA moved to its current 25-point, rally-scoring system in 2008 ... less than 48 hours later and 2,000 miles away, So. RS Eve Stephens smashed 20 kills and made 11 digs as UAA survived a second-set hiccup to sweep the season series from MSUB ... So. L Talia Leauanae made a match-high 20 digs, Sr. OH Vanessa Hayes had 10 kills, and Floyd notched 39 assists, 16 digs and a career-high-tying 5 aces.
 
THE SERIES
vs. NNU: UAA leads 20-19 overall; NNU leads 13-6 in Nampa
Streak: UAA 4
Last: UAA 3-0 (10-5-19 at UAA)
Notes: UAA has won eight of the last nine meetings ... teams have spilt the last eight meetings in Nampa, with the Seawolves winning 3-1 last season ... UAA's current 4-match winning streak equals its longest against NNU ... eight of the last 10 and 18 of the last 21 matches have been 4- or 5-set affairs ... UAA is 16-8 vs. NNU under Chris Green ... UAA leads 19-18 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) … NNU won first meeting in 2000, 3-1, in Nampa.
 
vs. CWU: UAA leads 26-20 overall; CWU leads 11-10 in Ellensburg
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 3-0 (10-3-19 at UAA)
Notes: Teams have split the last six meetings ... UAA is looking for its first season sweep of CWU since 2016 ... the Seawolves have been swept in their last two trips to Ellensburg ... UAA is 17-6 vs. CWU under head coach Chris Green ... of the 23 meetings since 2008, nine have gone 5 sets and five have gone 4 sets, with the Seawolves winning 13 of those 14 contests ... UAA leads 19-18 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. 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: Northwest Nazarene has had an up-and-down season, without a winning or losing streak longer than two matches ... winners of three of their last four, however, the Nighthawks are led by Brooke Foster (3.42 kps, .197 att%, 3.14 dps, 0.45 ace/set) and Abbey Blum (2.75 kps, .160 att%, 2.87 dps) ... still fighting stay in the playoff race, Central Washington saw its four-match winning streak snapped Saturday with a 3-2 (18-16) loss at Seattle Pacific ... the Wildcats' last six victories have come via sweep, while half of their losses have come in 5-set fashion, including their last three in a row ... CWU is led by Makala Swart (3.41 kps, .213 att%, 2.93 dps, 0.51 bps) and Gaby Aihara (9.17 aps, 2.66 dps).
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA leads the GNAC with 2.29 aces per set and ranks 2nd in blocks per set (2.42) and attack pct. (.230) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves rank 5th in aces, 12th in blocking and 49th in attack pct. ... the Seawolves are 67-16 (.807) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 113-27 (.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 six times in 11 years under Chris Green ... the Seawolves have clinched 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 GNAC stats, the former Colony High School star leads the way in kills per set (3.79) and points per set (4.51), along with ranks of 14th in blocking (0.85 bps) and 17th in attack pct. (.243) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, she is 25th in points and 39th in kills ... playing all rotations after being subbed on the back row last year, Stephens has recorded a team-high eight double-doubles, averaging 2.23 dps ... on UAA's career lists, the Palmer native currently ranks 5th in kills per set (3.44) and 8th in attack pct. (.285).
 
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 .201 and collecting 2.71 kills per set ... along with her GNAC-leading 0.58 aces per set (7th nationally), she also ranks 9th in points per set (3.52) and 15th 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 12 of 20 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 (274), 11th in total blocks (295), 13th in kills (852), 14th in matches played (115), 6th in sets played (439) and 5th in victories (89).
 
MORE 'WOLF BITES: So. S Ellen Floyd has  dished 10.12 assists per set to rank 2nd in the conference and 42nd nationally, improving her average to 10.74 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 10th on UAA's career list with 1,664 assists, boosted by season-high 52-assist efforts in 4-set wins over Saint Martin's and MSU Billings; she is 4th in terms of career assists average at 9.09 aps ... along with the third-highest digs average on the team (2.51 dps), she also ranks 5th in the GNAC with 0.44 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 12th nationally in that category ... now in her second year as a starter, Pluharova ranks 2nd in the league with 1.26 bps, while McGlathery is 7th with 1.00 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 .328 attack pecentage; in league matches only, she paces the GNAC at .390 ... meanwhile, Pluharova has recorded at least 6 kills on .300 hitting in six matches, including 9 kills (.438) in the road sweep of Concordia and a career-high 11 kills (.474) in the 5-set win over UAF ... the Czech's hitting percentage of .326 would rank 4th 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 9th in the GNAC with 3.87 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; over the last four matches, the Hawaiian is averaging 4.94 dps ... a former Dimond High standout, Vreeland is second on the team with 2.85, posting double-digit digs in 10 of 20 matches ... Vreeland stands  15th on UAA's career list with 3.21 dps ... Fr. DS Maggie Schlueter has made her debut after a redshirt campaign and shown off a dangerous serve, producing 42 aces and just 29 errors ... the Texan is 3rd in the GNAC and ranks 16th nationally with 0.54 aces per set, serving at least one ace in 17 of 20 matches.
 
GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 11 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (248-95, .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 .781 clip (157-44) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .825 (104-22) 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
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2019
INDIVIDUAL
Most Aces* — 7, Anjoilyn Vreeland vs Alaska Fairbanks, 10/22 (old record: 6, several times)
Match
TEAM
Match
Fewest Points Allowed, Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014) — 32 vs Concord, 9/6 (old record: 34 vs MSU Billings, 9/24/15)
Best Hitting Pct., Home Match^ — .444 (37-9-63) vs Concord, 9/6 (old record: .437 vs MSU Billings, 9/21/13)
Misc.
Most Consecutive Wins vs. Opponent — 23 vs Saint Martin's (extends record)
Most Consecutive Winning Seasons — 12 (2008-19, extends record)
^since rally scoring implemented in 2001
*since 25-point rally-scoring system implemented in 2008