THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...

Fri., Mar. 19 — 5 pm ADT — Marcus Pavilion — Lacey, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage (0-0) at Saint Martin's (1-1)
&
Sat., Mar. 20 — Noon & 3 pm doubleheader — Brougham Pavilion — Seattle, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific (3-1, one match pending)

LIVE VIDEO: Friday at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0nnHgoQKxoWpIvmsFX71kQ
                       Saturday at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChFriWtnm5Q9gvbVAtfYnhg

LIVE STATS: Friday at https://smusaints.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
                       Saturday at https://spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary

PLAY RESUMES WITH FAMILIAR FOES: Pending COVID protocols, the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team will make history this week, ending a 15-month layoff with the program's first-ever matches in the month of March ... UAA is set to take on conference rivals Saint Martin's on Friday (5 p.m. ADT) and Seattle Pacific on Saturday (noon and 3 p.m. ADT doubleheader) in three counting matches ... no fans will be allowed ... all competition during the Spring 2021 season will be considered non-conference affairs, with no official Great Northwest Athletic Conference campaign this year.

UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2019 stats)
S—Ellen Floyd, 5-10, So. (10.14 aps, 0.56 kps, .094 att%, 2.62 dps, 0.70 bps)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, So. (3.90 kps, .260 att%, 2.27 dps, 0.90 bps)
MB—Mahala Kaapuni, 5-9, Fr. (Kailua, Hawaii/Kapalama HS)
MB—Vera Pluharova, 6-2, Jr. (1.30 kps, .293 att%, 1.25 bps)
OH—Hannah Pembroke, 5-8, So. (1.55 kps, .169 att%, 0.84 dps, 0.34 bps)
DS—Reilly Plumhoff, 5-5, Fr. (2019 redshirt)
         or Julia Fetko, 5-6, Fr. (2019 redshirt)
L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, So. (3.68 dps, 0.66 aps, 0.21 ace/set)

THE SERIES vs. SMU: UAA leads 36-4 overall, 17-3 at SMU
Streak: UAA 24
Last: UAA 3-0 (11-21-19 at UAA)
Notes: Friday's match will be the first-ever non-conference contest between UAA and SMU and their first non-GNAC match since both teams were in the Pacific West Conference in 1999 ... UAA's 24-match win streak is the longest in program history against any opponent ... the Seawolves have won 72 of 78 sets during the streak, which started in 2008 ... UAA has won 12 straight on the road, including a 3-1 decision in 2019 ... SMU's last victories came  when it swept the 2007 series with a pair of 3-0 wins ... UAA leads 34-4 in GNAC matches (since 2001) ... teams played first two matches as Pac West opponents in 1998 and 1999.

THE SERIES vs. SPU: SPU leads 29-28 overall, 14-13 in Seattle 
Streak: UAA 2
Last: UAA 3-0 (11-23-19 at UAA)
Notes: The Seawolves swept the 2019 season series, including a 3-0 sweep in Seattle ... UAA has won a series-best eight straight in Seattle, with SPU's last win coming 3-1 on Oct. 29, 2011 ... this weekend's matches will be the first non-conference meetings since a 3-0 SPU victory in the Falcon Classic on Nov. 3, 1995 ... UAA is 19-5 against SPU under head coach Chris Green and leads 23-15 in GNAC matches ... first meetings came in 1991 as members of the Pac West Conference.

2019 SEASON RECAP: UAA returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 following a one-year absence, advancing to the second round and finishing with a 23-7 overall record ... the Seawolves placed runner-up in the Great Northwest Conference with a 17-3 record, finishing one match behind defending NCAA runner-up Western Washington and handing the Vikings their only two losses of the regular season ... three of UAA's losses came to eventual NCAA semifinalists Regis and Cal State San Bernardino (with CSUSB capturing the national title), and two others came against fellow NCAA qualifiers.

2019 NCAA RECAP: The 4th-seeded Seawolves earned their first NCAA Tournament win since the 2016 NCAA semifinals by taking a 5-set thriller (22-25, 25-23, 25-18, 21-25, 16-14) over 5th-seeded UC San Diego in the first round of the NCAA Div. II West Region Volleyball Championships at The Den in San Bernardino, Calif., on Dec. 5 ... then-sophomore RS Eve Stephens delivered four of her 14 kills in the 5th set and Jr. MB Kayla McGlathery had 10 kills and 7 total blocks as UAA avenged a September loss to the Tritons ... Sr. OH Vanessa Hayes added 11 kills and 3 aces, while then-freshman. OH Hannah Pembroke had 8 kills ­– including the go-ahead spike to make it 15-14 in the 5th – on .375 hitting ... setter Ellen Floyd dished 44 assists, libero Talia Leauanae made 13 digs and middle blocker Vera Pluharova added 6 total blocks in the victory ... the next day, UAA got 14 more kills and 11 digs from Stephens but could not overcome nationally top-ranked CSU San Bernardino, which scratched out a 25-11, 23-25, 25-20, 25-14 victory on its way to the national title ... Pembroke had 10 kills and Pluharova made 8 block assists, but the Coyotes outhit the Seawolves .258 to .119.

SEAWOLF NCAA HISTORY: The 2019 Seawolves made their sixth NCAA appearance in seven years and ninth in the last 11 seasons ... last season marked UAA's 11th overall NCAA Tournament trip (1989, 1990, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019), with its overall record improving to 8-11 … UAA has now won three of its last four First Round matches ... the Seawolves earned their deepest advancement by making the 2016 National Title Match and winning multiple matches for the first time that year ... this year's No. 4 seed was the Seawolves' highest aside from the No. 1 seeds in 2015 and 2016 and the No. 2 seed in 2014 ... UAA was the No. 5 seed in 2009 when it earned its first NCAA win with a 5-set 1st Round victory over Hawaii-Hilo in San Bernardino.

TEAM NOTES: UAA led the GNAC with 2.11 aces per set and ranked 2nd in blocks per set (2.56) and attack pct. (.233) in 2019 ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves ranked 5th in blocking, 9th in aces and 31st in attack pct. ... UAA's 249 total aces were the second-most in program history and a record for the rally-scoring era (since 2001), while their 2.11 aces per set were the most for a UAA team since the NCAA scoring system was reduced to 25-point sets in 2008 ... the Seawolves are 71-16 (.816) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 117-27 (.813) 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 earned their 12th straight winning season in 2019, extending the program record that began with Green's arrival at UAA in 2008 ... UAA also extended program-best streaks of 11 straight winning conference records and top-4 GNAC finishes ... the Seawolves are 20-14 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014 and 30-41 overall vs. ranked opponents under Green; prior to Green's arrival, UAA had lost 32 straight to ranked foes.

ROCKIN' EVE: Jr. RS Eve Stephens followed her GNAC Freshman of the Year campaign by claiming her second straight unanimous All-GNAC award and capturing AVCA Second Team All-America honors in 2019 ... also an All-West Region selection by by coaches and sports information directors, Stephens's other honors included all-tournament at the NCAA West Regional Championships, the D2 West Region Showcase and the Seawolf Invitational, and GNAC Offensive Player of the Week for Sept. 16-22 ... in the GNAC stats, the former Colony High School star led the way in kills per set (3.90) and points per set (4.62), along with ranks of 14th in blocking (0.90 bps) and 12th in attack pct. (.260) ... in the NCAA Div. II national stats, she finished 21st in points (6th among underclassmen) and 33rd in kills ... playing all rotations after being subbed on the back row last year, Stephens recorded a team-high 12 double-doubles, averaging 2.27 dps ... on the Seawolves' single-season lists, her 425 kills ranked 8th all-time, while her 3.90 kps ranked 7th ... on UAA's career lists, the Palmer native enters her junior season at 17th in total kills (768), 4th in kps (3.54) and 7th in (.288)  ... a star in the classroom as well, Stephens was voted CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 with her GNAC-best 4.00 GPA in accounting.

THE ELLEN SHOW: Jr. S Ellen Floyd engineered UAA's offensive improvement in 2019 to the reward of being tabbed First Team All-GNAC and AVCA honorable mention All-America ... in the GNAC stats, Floyd ranked 2nd with 10.14 assists per set and 5th with 0.42 aces per set, bettering her assist average to 10.65 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 added GNAC Offensive and AVCA Sports Imports Div. II National Player of the Week honors for her play in the wins at Western Washington and Simon Fraser ... at the midpoint of her career, Floyd is on pace to break UAA's all-time assists record, already standing 7th with 2,072 assists ... boosted by season-high 52-assist efforts in 4-set wins over Saint Martin's and MSU Billings, and 51 in the 4-set victory at Northwest Nazarene, she is 4th in Seawolf history in terms of career assists average at 9.29 aps.

MORE 'WOLF BITES: Sr. MB Vera Pluharova continued her career-long improvement in 2019 and enters her fourth season as one of the top middle blockers in the West Region ... in her second year as a starter, Pluharova ranked 3rd in the GNAC and 21st nationally with 1.25 blocks per set ... the Czech recorded at least 6 kills on .300 hitting in seven 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 ... So. OH Hannah Pembroke was UAA's 4th-leading kills producer with 1.55 kps as a true freshman in 2019, and the Californian will play a larger role now with the graduation of former standout Vanessa Hayes ... Pembroke made huge strides during the second half of her rookie campaign, improving her numbers to 1.76 kps on .193 hitting in league matches ...  the Seawolves are well stocked at the libero and DS positions again in 2020-21, with Jr. Talia Leauanae joined by redshirt freshmen and local products Reilly Plumhoff and Julia Fetko ... Leauanae ranked 12th in the GNAC with 3.68 digs per set in 2019, with efforts of 28 digs (career high) in the loss to Simon Fraser, 17 digs in the home upset of Western Washington, 24 in the win over UAF and 21 in the road win at NNU.

GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 11 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (256-97, .726) has established himself as the most successful coach in program history and one of the top mentors in the NCAA Div. II ranks, earning his fifth GNAC Coach of the Year award in 2019 ('09, '13, '15, '16) ... 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 eight of the last 10 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 two NCAAs ... UAA has won at a .782 clip (165-46) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .828 (111-23) 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.

2019 INDIVIDUAL HONORS
ELLEN FLOYD
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
D2 West Region Showcase All-Tournament Team
GNAC All-Academic Team
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Nov. 11-17
AVCA Sports Imports Div. II National Player of the Week, Nov. 12-18
First Team All-GNAC
First Team All-West Region (AVCA)
Honorable Mention All-America (AVCA)
CHRIS GREEN
GNAC Coach of the Year
VANESSA HAYES
GNAC Preseason Team
GNAC All-Academic Team 
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Nov. 4-10
First Team All-GNAC
JALISA INGRAM
GNAC All-Academic Team
TALIA LEAUANAE
GNAC All-Academic Team 
KAYLA McGLATHERY
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 30-Oct. 6
Honorable Mention All-GNAC
VERA PLUHAROVA
GNAC All-Academic Team
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
GNAC All-Academic Team (highest GPA)
CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Team
First Team All-GNAC (unanimous)
First Team All-West Region (AVCA & D2CCA)
West Regional Championships All-Tournament Team
Second Team All-America (AVCA)
ANJOILYN VREELAND
GNAC All-Academic Team

UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2019
INDIVIDUAL
Match
Most Aces* — 7, Anjoilyn Vreeland vs Alaska Fairbanks, 10/22 (old record: 6, several times)
Season
Most Aces, Freshman ­– 55, Maggie Schlueter (old record: 40, Leah Swiss, 2015)
Most Blocks per Set* ­– 1.27, Vera Pluharova (old record: 1.25, Robyn Burton, 2010)
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)
Season
Most Aces^ – 249 (old record: 225, 2001)
Most Aces per Set* – 2.11 (old record: 1.74, 2017)
Misc.
Best Neutral-Court Win Pct. – 1.000 [4-0] (ties record set in 1999 and 2015)
Most Consecutive Wins vs. Opponent — 24 vs Saint Martin's (extends record)
Most Consecutive Winning Seasons — 12 (2008-19, extends record)
Most Consecutive Winning Conference Records ­— 11 (2009-19, extends record)
^since rally scoring implemented in 2001
*since 25-point rally-scoring system implemented in 2008