THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
2021 NCAA Div. II West Regional Volleyball Championships
Coussoulis Arena – San Bernardino, Calif.
(All times listed AST)
Thursday, Dec. 2 – First Round
11 am: #6 Central Washington (16-8) vs. #3 Chaminade (27-5)
1:30 pm: #7 Simon Fraser (17-8) vs. #2 Western Washington (21-4)
4 pm: #5 Cal State Los Angeles (18-9) vs. #4 Cal Poly Pomona (23-4)
6:30 pm: #8 Alaska Anchorage (19-11) vs. #1 Cal State San Bernardino (25-3)
Friday, Dec. 3 – Semifinals
4 pm: CWU/Chaminade winner vs. SFU/WWU winner
6:30 pm: CSULA/CPP winner vs UAA/CSUSB winner
Saturday, Dec. 4 – Final
6 pm: Semifinals winners
(winner advances to national quarterfinals, Dec. 9 in Tampa, Fla.)
 
LIVE VIDEO: Free at ccaanetwork.com
 
LIVE STATS: csusbathletics.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
 
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAVolleyball Twitter feed for in-match updates
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2021 stats)
S—Ellen Floyd, 5-10, Jr. (10.14 aps, 0.87 kps, .122 att%, 2.99 dps, 0.55 bps, 0.49 ace/set)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, Jr. (3.83 kps, .256 att%, 2.36 dps, 0.79 bps, 0.42 ace/set)
OH—Lisa Jaunet, 5-10, So. (2.50 kps, .193 att%)
MB—Vera Pluharova, 6-2, Sr. (1.84 kps, .328 att%, 1.06 bps)
MB—Akor Maywin, 6-2, Jr. (1.34 kps, .313 att%, 0.99 bps)
DS—Reilly Plumhoff, 5-5, Fr. (1.93 dps, 0.52 aps, 0.24 ace/set)
L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, Jr. (3.72 dps, 0.46 ace/set, 0.57 aps)
 
WEST REGION PREVIEW: UAA will battle with seven other programs to decide the NCAA Div. II West Regional Championships winner in a single-elimination tournament at Coussoulis Arena in San Bernardino, Calif. ... the tourney features four nationally ranked teams (No. 2 CSUSB, No. 13 Western Washington, No. 19 Cal Poly Pomona and No. 24 Chaminade) ... UAA is a combined 3-6 against West Region qualfiers and 3-8 against all NCAA qualifiers, including losses to Colorado State-Pueblo and current No. 1 Central Missouri ... the winner of the region advances to the NCAA Div. II Elite Eight in Tampa, Fla., where the national champion will be determined, Dec. 9-11.
 
THE SERIES...
vs CSUSB: CSUSB leads 1-0 overall, 6-0 in San Bernardino
Last: CSUSB 3-1 (12/6/19 at CSUSB) / Streak: CSUSB 3
Notes: This will be the fifth NCAA Tournament meeting between the teams, with CSUSB having won a first-round contest in 2011 and second-round tilts in 2009, 2015 and 2019 ... UAA's last win was a 3-2 neutral-court victory in Rohnert Park, Calif., Sept. 8, 2016, during the Seawolves' NCAA Runner-up season ... series dates to 1993, though 11 of the 13 meetings have come since 2009.
 
vs CPP: CPP leads 8-2 overall, 3-1 neutral
Last: UAA 3-0 (9/5/15 at UAA) / Streak: UAA 2
 
vs CSULA: CSULA leads 6-4 overall, 4-2 neutral
Last: CSULA 3-0 (9/10/11 at Fairbanks) / Streak: CSULA 1
 
SCOUTING THE COYOTES: Defending (2019) national champion Cal State San Bernardino brings a No. 2 national ranking and a 22-match winning streak into Thursday's meeting, going unbeaten on its run to the California Collegiate Athletic Association regular-season and tournament titles ... the Coyotes – who have not lost since Sept. 10 vs. Concordia-St. Paul – are led by CCAA Player of the Year Alexis Cardoza (3.90 kps, .249 att%, 2.78 dps) and First Team All-CCAA setter Marlee Nunley (11.10 aps, .374 att%, 2.00 dps).
 
UAA NCAA HISTORY: UAA is making its seventh NCAA appearance in eight seasons and 10th in the last 12 seasons (not including the 2020 pandemic year) ... this marks UAA's 12th overall NCAA Tournament trip (1989, 1990, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019), with its overall record at 8-11 … the Seawolves earned their deepest by making the 2016 National Title Match and winning multiple matches for the first time that year ... the Seawolves have won three of their last four First Round matches and are 4-7 all-time in the opening round ... in 2019, UAA was seeded No. 4 and beat No. 5 UC San Diego, 3-2, before losing to eventual national champ Cal State San Bernardino, 3-1, in the Second Round.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA leads the GNAC statistics with 2.08 aces per set (17th nationally) and opponent attack pct. (.157), and ranks 2nd in attack pct. (.221) ... the Seawolves have secured their 14th consecutive winning season, extending the program record that began with Chris Green's arrival at UAA in 2008 ... UAA extended additional program-best streaks with its 12th straight winning conference record and 12th straight top-4 GNAC finish ... the Seawolves' 14-match GNAC winning streak (11/7/19 to 10/16/21) was the program's second-longest, trailing only the 22 straight from Oct. 17, 2015 to Oct. 20, 2016 ... the eight straight GNAC wins in one season were UAA's most since going on 11- and 8-match win streaks in the 2016 NCAA runner-up season ...  the Seawolves are 81-19 (.810) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 128-31 (.805) at home since 2009; UAA has never lost three straight matches at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA is trying to reach the 20-win plateau for the 15th times in its 40 full seasons and for the eighth time in 13 full seasons under Green ...  the Seawolves are 21-17 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014 and 31-44 overall vs. ranked opponents under Green; prior to Green's arrival, UAA had lost 32 straight to ranked foes.
 
STEPHENS ON POINT: In her fourth season in Green & Gold, Jr. RS Eve Stephens has continued to rack up numbers at a record-setting pace, capturing her third straight unanimous All-GNAC Team selection ... the 2019 AVCA Second Team All-American leads the GNAC with 4.67 points per set (13th nationally), along with ranks of 2nd in kills per set (3.82, 31st nationally), 4th in aces per set (0.42) and 13th in hitting pct. (.256) ... the Palmer (Colony HS) product has 11 double-doubles this year and 29 for her career after leading the GNAC in both kills and points per set in 2019 and 2020-21 ... with 1,411 career kills, Stephens has risen to No. 2 on the Seawolves' all-time list, and she is on pace to break the record next year ... on UAA's other career lists, she ranks 3rd in kps (3.71), 8th in attack percentage (.279), 7th in block assists (285), 12th in total blocks (303) and 14th in victories (72) ... a star in the classroom as well, the accounting major was voted CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 for the second time this year with a 3.89 overall GPA ... Stephens owns two GNAC offensive player-of-the-week accolades this season and was all-tournament at the Seawolf Invitational and the Nanook Classic.
 
THINK FLOYD: Now a two-time All-GNAC selction, Jr. S Ellen Floyd started the season with GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honors and ended regular season with GNAC Offensive and Sports Imports/AVCA National POW awards for her  for play against Western Oregon and Saint Martin's ... the 2019 AVCA honorable mention All-American leads the GNAC with 0.49 aces per set and ranks 3rd with 10.14 assists per set ... she is also second on the team and 16th in the league with 2.99 digs per set – all while piloting an offense that has outhit its opponents .221 to .157 ... she has produced double-digit digs in 17 of 30 outings, tying career highs recently with 7 kills at NNU and 21 digs at WWU; she also had 52 assists and 19 digs in the win over regionally ranked Biola ... with another season remaining, Floyd already owns UAA's career aces record (166) and is on pace to break the all-time assists mark, already standing 4th with 3,691 assists ... her other career ranks stand at 3rd in assists average (9.56 aps), 3rd in aces per set (0.430) and 12th in victories (74) ... with a 3.86 GPA in accounting, Floyd earned her third straight GNAC All-Academic nod this year and joined Eve Stephens to give UAA two of the eight selections to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Team.
 
'WOLF BITES: Sr. MB Vera Pluharova continued career-long improvement in 2021 by earning honorable mention All-GNAC accolades ... the 4-year starter ranks 3rd in the GNAC with a .328 attack pct. and is 8th with 1.06 blocks per set, earning GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for her play in home wins over Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene ... the Czech has hit .500 or better in 12 matches and .700 or better three times, breaking the 20-year-old school record for attack percentage with a .917 (career-high-tying 11 kills, no errors, 12 attacks) performance in the second match of the year at Hawaii Pacific ... Pluharova ranks 5th on UAA's career list in blocks per set (1.11), 2nd in block assists (396), t-3rd in total blocks (445), 9th in attack pct. (.278) and t-7th in victories (81) ... Jr. L Talia Leauanae is one of four Seawolves with three-plus years of experience in Green & Gold, and she has produced well with 3.72 digs per set (10th in GNAC) 0.46 aces per set (2nd in GNAC behind Floyd) ... the Maui native has six matches with 20-plus digs this year, with her 25 at MSUB and against WWU currently tied for the most in any GNAC 3-set match this year ... Leauanae recently joined UAA's 1,000-digs club, now with career ranks of 11th in digs per set (3.30) and 13th in digs (1,024) ... So. OH Lisa Jaunet raised her level of play with the start of GNAC play, producing 2.57 kills per set on .224 hitting in 18 league matches ... the St. Denis, France, native and State College of Florida transfer had her second-most kills (15) against Saint Martin's and posted consecutive career-best hitting percentages of .476 at Western Oregon, .500 against Seattle Pacific and .500 at Simon Fraser ... Jaunet ranks 18th in the overall GNAC stats with 2.50 kills per set ... Jr. MB Akor Maywin has had a breakdown season, carrying GNAC ranks of 5th in attack pct. (.305) and 12th in blocks per set (0.99) into the postseason ... the Texan has posted at least four blocks in 14 of her 28 matches played and owns eight performances of .400-plus hitting.
 
GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 14 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (286-112, .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 five GNAC Coach of the Year awards ('09, '13, '15, '16, '19) ... the 2016 AVCA D-II National Coach of the Year and 3-time AVCA D-II West Region Coach of the Year (2009, '15, '16), Green has led UAA to NCAA Tournament berths in nine of the last 11 full seasons, capturing No. 1 seeds in 2015 and 2016, and piloting the Seawolves to the national title match in 2016 ... in the 28 years before Green's arrival, the Seawolves made just two NCAA appearances ... UAA has won at a .762 clip (195-61) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .809 (123-29) in league play ... Green's UAA teams have produced eight 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.
 
2021 Individual Honors
MAKANA ELENEKI
GNAC All-Academic Team
ELLEN FLOYD
First Team All-GNAC
Academic All-District 8 Team, selected by CoSIDA
GNAC All-Academic Team
Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week, Nov. 14-20
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Nov. 14-20
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, Aug. 23-29
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
CEYNA KAHRAMAN
GNAC All-Academic Team
TALIA LEAUANAE
GNAC All-Academic Team
VERA PLUHAROVA
Honorable Mention All-GNAC
GNAC All-Academic Team
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, Oct. 4-10
REILLY PLUMHOFF
GNAC All-Academic Team
EVE STEPHENS
First Team All-GNAC (unanimous)
Academic All-District 8 Team, selected by CoSIDA
GNAC All-Academic Team
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Oct. 4-10
Nanook Classic All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Aug. 23-29
Preseason All-GNAC Team
GNAC Preseason Player of the Year
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2021
INDIVIDUAL
Match
Best Attack Pct. (min. 11 attacks) — .917 [11-0-12] by Vera Pluharova at Hawaii Pacific, Aug. 28 (old record: .909 [10-0-11] by Janelle Veith vs Seattle, 10/20/01)
Career
Most Aces — 166 by Ellen Floyd, 2018-current (old record: 162, Jen Szczerbinski, 1988-90, '92)
TEAM
Match
Fewest Blocks Allowed — 0 vs Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 9 (breaks or ties unresearched record)
MISC.
Most Consecutive Wins vs Opponent — 27 vs Saint Martin's, 2008-current
Most Consecutive Winning Seasons — 14 (extends record)
Most Consecutive Winning Conference Seasons — 12 (extends record)