THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
Thur., Sept. 19 — 6 pm ADT — Royal Brougham Pavilion — Seattle, WA
Alaska Anchorage (5-3, 0-0 GNAC) at Seattle Pacific (3-5, 0-0 GNAC)
&
Sat., Sept. 21 — 4:15 pm ADT — Marcus Pavilion — Lacey, WA
Alaska Anchorage at Saint Martin's (0-9, 0-0 GNAC [9/19 vs UAF])

LIVE VIDEO: gnac.tv
LIVE STATS: Thursday at spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/wvball/ ... Saturday at gnac.tv
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAVolleyball Twitter feed for in-match updates.
 
CONFERENCE PLAY AWAITS: The Great Northwest Athletic Conference season gets under way this week as the Seawolves open league play with matches at Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's ... UAA finished non-conference play with a 5-3 record after going 2-2 in its own Seawolf Invitational and 3-1 at last week's San Bernardino pod of the D2 West Region Showcase.
 
SHOWCASE SHOWOFFS: UAA won three of four matches at last week's D2 West Region Showcase, including a pair in dramatic fashion, to improve its long-term playoff chances ... in the opener, the Seawolves came back from a 24-16 deficit in the first set with a 10-0 run, and So. RS Eve Stephens propeled a 3-1 win over previously unbeaten Cal State San Marcos ... after losing to nationally 2nd-ranked Cal State San Bernardino in straight sets, UAA bounced back with a 3-2 win over Biola ... Stephens had 16 kills, 10 digs and 5 blocks, Sr. OH Vanessa Hayes had 14 kills and a career-high 13 digs, and So. S Ellen Floyd collected 39 assists, 14 digs and 4 aces as UAA fought off one match point and beat the Eagles 16-14 in the 5th ... Stephens added 16 more kills and Jr. MB Vera Pluharova had 8 total blocks and 6 kills on .667 hitting in a 25-21, 25-21, 25-21 sweep of Point Loma to close Showcase play ... Floyd dished 30 assists against the Sea Lions and joined Stephens in the All-Tournament Team.

UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2019 stats)
S—Ellen Floyd, 5-10, So. (9.16 aps, 0.61 kps, .086 att%, 2.00 dps, 0.52 ace/set)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, So. (3.81 kps, .241 att%, 2.10 dps, 1.00 bps, 0.29 ace/set)
MB—Kayla McGlathery, 6-0, Jr. (1.80 kps, .225 att%, 1.03 bps)
MB—Vera Pluharova, 6-2, Jr. (1.26 kps, .313 att%, 1.39 bps)
OH—Vanessa Hayes, 5-11, Sr. (3.06 kps, .208 att%, 1.48 dps, 0.68 ace/set)
DS—Maggie Schlueter, 5-8, Fr. (1.13 dps, 0.32 aps, 0.68 ace/set)
L—Anjoilyn Vreeland, , 5-6, Jr. (3.68 dps, 0.45 aps)
 
THE SERIES
vs. SPU: SPU leads 29-26 overall, 14-12 in Seattle
Streak: SPU 1 / Last: SPU 3-2 (11-1-18 at UAA) / Notes: SPU snapped UAA's series-best win streak of 11 with last year's 5-set victory in Anchorage ... the Seawolves have won seven straight in Seattle, with SPU's last victory coming 3-1 in 2011 ... the last three meetings have gone five sets ... UAA is 17-5 against SPU under head coach Chris Green and leads 21-15 in GNAC matches ... first meetings came in 1991 as members of the Pac West Conference.

vs. SMU: UAA leads 34-4 overall, 16-3 in Lacey/Olympia
Streak: UAA 22 / Last: UAA 3-1 (11-3-18 at UAA) / Notes: The last three matches have gone four sets ... UAA's 22-match win streak is the longest in program history against any opponent ... the Seawolves have won 66 of 71 sets during the streak, which started in 2008 ... SMU swept the 2007 series with a pair of 3-0 wins ... UAA leads 32-4 in GNAC matches (since 2001) ... teams played first two matches as Pac West Conference opponents in 1998 and 1999.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: Seattle Pacific has shown a penchant for dramatics early in the season, playing four or five sets in six of its eight matches, including a 26-24, 19-25, 27-25, 30-28 win over Chaminade in its last outing ... picked 6th in the GNAC preseason poll, the Falcons are led by Jr. OH Maddie Batiste (3.50 kps, .151 att%, 3.19 dps) and all-league Sr. OH Gabby Oddo (3.12 kps, .187 att%, 0.50 ace/set, 2.84 dps) ... Saint Martin's will be searching for its first victory of 2019 when it hosts Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday, having lost six of its first nine outings via sweep ... picked last in the preseason poll, the Saints are led by Jr. OH Mackenzie Carter (3.59 kps, .128 att%, 2.88 dps) and Fr. OH Kylie Coon (2.70 kps, .170 att%, 1.48 dps).
 
TEAM NOTES: After two weeks, UAA leads the GNAC with 2.63 blocks per set and 2.48 aces per set, while ranking just behind Western Washington (.166 to .165) in opponent attack percentage ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves rank 5th in blocks per set and 9th in aces per set ... 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 62-15 (.805) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 108-26 (.806) at home since 2009; UAA has never lost consecutive matches at the Alaska Airlines Center ... 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 season she has started with All-GNAC Preseason Team and all-tournament honors at both the D2 West Region Showcase and Seawolf Invitational ... in the current GNAC stats, the former Colony High School star leads the way in kills per set (3.81) and points per set (4.61), along with ranks of 9th in blocking (1.00 bps) and 13th in attack pct. (.241) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, she is 31st in points and 47th in kills ... playing all rotations now after being subbed on the back row last year, Stephens has already recorded four double-doubles in eight matches, including a UAA season-high 19 kills and career-high 13 digs against Regis.
 
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 .208 and collecting 3.06 kills per set ... along with being tied for the league lead with 0.68 aces per set, she also ranks 4th in points per set (4.00) and 12th in kills per set ... in the national stats, she is 19th in aces and 98th in points ... 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 ... 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 (259), 11th in total blocks (280) and 18th in kills (733); she needs just 40 more kills to reach the top 15.
 
MORE 'WOLF BITES: So. S Ellen Floyd has dished 9.16 assists per set to rank 4th in the early GNAC stats, earning all-tournament honors at both the Seawolf Invitational and D2 West Region Showcase ... a Florida native, Floyd surpassed 1,000 career assists during the loss to UCSD and already stands 15th on UAA's career list with 1,159 ... Jr. MB Vera Pluharova and Jr. MB Kayla McGlathery give UAA two front-liners among the GNAC's top-10 blocking leaders after two weeks ... now in her second year as a starter, Pluharova leads the league with 1.39 bps, while McGlathery is 8th with 1.03 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 ... boosted by 27 digs in the loss to Regis, Jr. L Anjoilyn Vreeland ranks 10th in  the early GNAC stats with 3.68 dps ... Fr. DS Maggie Schlueter has made her debut after a redshirt campaign and shown off a dangerous serve, producing 21 aces and just eight errors; the Texan is tied for the early GNAC lead and ranks 19th nationally with 0.68 aces per set.
 
GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 11 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (238-93, .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 (147-42) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .825 (94-20) 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