THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Seawolf Invitational
Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
(All times listed ADT)
Thursday, September 5
7 pm: Regis (0-0) vs Alaska Anchorage (0-0)
Friday, September 6
9 am: Concord (0-0) vs UC San Diego (0-0)
11:30 am: Regis vs Biola (0-0)
2 pm: Concord vs Alaska Anchorage
4:30 pm: UC San Diego vs Regis
7:30 pm: Biola vs Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, September 7
9 am: Regis vs Concord
11:30 am: Biola vs UC San Diego
5 pm: Concord vs Biola
7:30 pm: UC San Diego vs Alaska Anchorage
 
TICKETS: AlaskaAirilnesCenter.com or 907-786-1562
 
LIVE VIDEO (all matches): gnac.tv
 
LIVE STATS (all matches): https://goseawolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAVolleyball Twitter feed for in-match updates.
 
BRIEF SEASON PREVIEW: UAA returns seven letterwinners from 2018 – including full- or part-time starters Ellen Floyd, Vanessa Hayes, Vera Pluharova, Eve Stephens and Anjoilyn Vreeland ­– as the Seawolves try to return to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence ... Stephens and Hayes were recently named to the All-GNAC Preseason Team, while Hayes brings the most experience as the squad's lone senior, having started on UAA's 2016 NCAA runner-up club ... UAA also gets a boost with the return of all-league MB Kayla McGlathery, who is returning to the sport after a 4-year break, and an influx of seven newcomers and three returning redshirts.
 
2018 SEASON RECAP: The Seawolves posted the 14th 20-win season in program history and their sixth in 11 years under head coach Chris Green, barely missing the NCAA Tournament with a 21-7 overall record ... UAA also claimed its 11th straight winning record as it went 7-1 in non-conference play and finished third in the 11-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 14-6 ... individually, Eve Stephens landed First Team All-GNAC and GNAC Freshman of the Year honors, Sr. OH Chrisalyn Johnson and Sr. MB Tara Melton were honorable mention All-GNAC picks, and Sr. RS/L Taylor Noga tied for No. 2 in UAA career history with 101 victories in Green & Gold.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2018 stats or notes)
S—Ellen Floyd, 5-10, So. (8.33 aps, 0.49 kps, .126 att%, 2.26 dps, 0.35 ace/set)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, So. (3.18 kps, .330 att%, 0.76 bps)
MB—Kayla McGlathery, 6-0, Jr. (2014 GNAC Newcomer of the Year)
MB—Vera Pluharova, 6-2, Jr. (1.01 kps, .211 att%, 1.19 bps)
OH—Vanessa Hayes, 5-11, Sr. (2.56 kps, .189 att%, 1.25 dps, 0.40 bps, 0.29 ace)
OH—Hannah Pembroke, 5-8, Fr. (2018 redshirt)
L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, So. (1.47 dps)
 
THE SERIES
vs. Regis/Concord/Biola: First meetings
vs. UCSD: UCSD leads 4-0
Last: UCSD 3-2 (9-1-17 at Point Loma) / Notes: This will mark the first and only meeting as NCAA Div. II programs in Anchorage, as UCSD will move to the NCAA Div. I ranks next year ... series began in 2009, a 3-0 UCSD home win ... all four meetings have occured in September.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES...
REGIS (regisrangers.com)
  Location: Denver, Colorado       
  2018: 19-10, 14-4 (5th) Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
  2019 RMAC Preseason Poll: 4th (of 16)

CONCORD (cumountainlions.com)
  Location: Athens, West Virginia
  2018: 7-25, 3-13 (10th) Mountain East Conference
  2019 MEC Preseason Poll: 9th (of 12)
 
BIOLA (athletics.biola.edu)
  Nickname: Eagles
  Location: La Mirada, California
  2018: 30-6, 19-3 (2nd) Pac West Conference
  2019 PWC Preseason Poll: 3rd (of 12)
 
UC SAN DIEGO (ucsdtritons.com)
  Location: La Jolla, California
  2018: 11-12, 7-10 (5th) California Collegiate Athletic Assoc. South
  2019 CCAA South Division Preseason Poll: t-3rd (of 6)
 
TEAM NOTES: Last season UAA ranked 20th in NCAA Div. II with 2.33 blocks per set ... of the 290 teams in D-II volleyball, UAA ranked no lower than 85th in any of the seven major statistical categories ... the Seawolves led the GNAC with 1.66 aces per set and a .153 opponent attack percentage, ranking in the top half of every league category ... UAA reached the 20-win plateau for the 14th time in 39 years and the sixth time in 11 years under Chris Green ... the Seawolves recorded their 11th straight winning season, 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 60-13 (.822) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 106-24 (.815) at home since 2009; UAA has never lost consecutive matches at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the Seawolves are 18-13 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014 and 28-40 overall vs. ranked opponents under Green; prior to Green's arrival, UAA had lost 32 straight to ranked foes.
 
GOOD 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 ... the former Colony High School star ranked 6th in the conference with a .330 attack percentage, 8th with 3.18 kills per set and 9th with 3.59 points per set, while helping UAA lead the GNAC in opponent attack pct. with a solid 0.76 blocks per set ... Stephens's .330 attack pct. also broke the Seawolf freshman record and ranked 8th nationally among freshmen ... the GNAC offensive and Sports Imports/AVCA Division II National player-of-the-week for Sept. 10-16, she blasted double-figure kills in 15 of the last 20 matches and hit over .300 in 18 contests ... in the 4-set victory over UAF, she racked up 21 kills with no attack errors, producing a .656 attack percentage that ranked No. 6 on the all-time GNAC list and best ever for a Seawolf in 17 years of GNAC play (minimum 18 kills), and she had at least 6 kills in every match, including a UAA season-high 23 in the road win over Rocky Mountain.
 
MORE 'WOLF BITES: Sr. OH Vanessa Hayes made the move from middle blocker to outside hitter last year and showed steady improvement at her new position, increasing her kills numbers almost every week and averaging 2.56 kps on .189 hitting ... Boyer delivered her first career double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs against Notre Dame de Namur, and she posted at least 14 kills in seven matches, including 15 in the 3-2 win at SPU and a career-high 17 in the 3-1 win at Concordia-Portland ... a starter on UAA's 2016 NCAA Runner-Up squad, Boyer ranks in UAA's career top 20 lists in multiple categories, entering her senior season at 7th in block assists (249) and 11th in total blocks (267) ... Jr. MB Vera Pluharova had at least 5 total blocks in 14 of her 26 matches in 2018 to rank 2nd in the GNAC (29th nationally) with 1.19 bps ... Pluharova also came into her own offensively during the second half of the season, improving her attack pct. from .065 to .211 in her final 10 matches, thanks to 59 kills and just 10 errors in that span ... after taking over as the primary distributor in a one-setter offense on Sept. 20 last season, So. S Ellen Floyd averaged 10.04 assists per set and delivered 43 of her 51 kills ... a Florida native with Kodiak ties, Floyd led the Seawolves and ranked 5th in the GNAC with 0.35 aces per set, and she was 6th in the league with 8.33 assists per set.
 
GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 10 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (233-90, .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 an .785 clip (142-39) 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.
 
2018 INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Casey Davenport
Preseason All-GNAC Team
GNAC All-Academic Team
Vanessa Hayes
GNAC All-Academic Team
Jalisa Ingram
GNAC All-Academic Team
Chrisalyn Johnson
Preseason All-GNAC Team
UAA Invitational Most Outstanding Player, 8/25
GNAC co-Offensive Player of the Week, 8/20-26
GNAC All-Academic Team
Honorable Mention All-GNAC
Tara Melton
Honorable Mention All-GNAC
Taylor Noga
UAA Invitational All-Tournament Team
GNAC All-Academic Team
Vera Pluharova
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, 8/20-26
GNAC All-Academic Team
Eve Stephens
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, 9/10-16
Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week, 9/10-16
First Team All-GNAC (unanimous)
GNAC Freshman of the Year
All-West Region honorable mention (AVCA)
Honorable Mention All-American (AVCA)