THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Seawolf Invitational
Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
(all times listed ADT)
Thursday, Sept. 2
4 pm: #18 Central Missouri (0-0) vs Alaska Fairbanks (2-2)
7 pm: Biola (0-0) vs Alaska Anchorage (3-1)
Friday, Sept. 3
9:30 am: Texas A&M-International (0-0) vs Alaska Anchorage
Noon: Indianapolis (0-0) vs Alaska Fairbanks
2:30 pm: #18 Central Missouri vs Texas A&M-International
5 pm: Biola vs Alaska Fairbanks
7:30 pm: Indianapolis vs Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, Sept. 4
9:30 am: Texas A&M-International vs Biola
Noon: Indianapolis vs #18 Central Missouri
2:30 pm: Texas A&M-International vs Alaska Fairbanks
5 pm: Indianapolis vs Biola
7:30 pm: #18 Central Missouri vs Alaska Anchorage
 
TICKETS: Online at GoSeawolves.com, or call 907-786-7811 ... the Terry Ann Homan Box Office will open for in-person sales one hour prior to the first match each day ... each day will feature a single ticket for all matches.
 
LIVE VIDEO: All matches free on the UAA Athletics YouTube page ... surf to the UAA Volleyball schedule page at GoSeawolves.com for direct links.
 
LIVE STATS: All matches at goseawolves.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. (10.21 aps, 1.07 kps, .100 att%, 3.64 dps, 0.50 bps)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, Jr. (4.43 kps, .288 att%, 3.07 dps, 0.50 bps, 0.64 ace/set)
OH—Lisa Jaunet, 5-10, So. (2.57 kps, .191 att%)
MB—Vera Pluharova, 6-2, Sr. (2.36 kps, .394 att%, 0.79 bps)
OH—Akor Maywin, 6-2, Jr. (1.00 kps, .212 att%, 0.78 bps)
         or Leilani Elder, 6-0, Fr. (0.43 kps, .091 att%, 0.86 bps)
DS—Reilly Plumhoff, 5-5, Fr. (1.86 dps, 0.79 aps)
L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, Jr. (3.21 dps, 0.64 ace/set)
 
THE SERIES...
vs Biola: UAA leads 2-0 overall, 1-0 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 3-2 (9-13-19 at Cal St. San Bernardino)
Notes: Both match-ups came in the 2019 season at UAA beat BU 3-1 in the Seawolf Invitational on Sept. 6 and 3-2 a week later on a neutral court at the D2 West Region Showcase.
 
vs TAMUI & UIndy: First meetings
 
vs Central Missouri: UCM leads 5-0 overall, 3-0 in Anchorage
Last: UCM 3-0 (8-28-08 at UAA)
Notes: The last meeting was Chris Green's first match as head coach at UAA ... this will mark the fourth straight meeting between the teams in Anchorage, although it will be the first time UCM has visited the Alaska Airlines Center ... series started in 1987 with a 3-0 UCM win at the Nebraska-Omaha tournament.
 
HOME, UNFAMILIAR HOME: For the first time since Nov. 23, 2019 – a span of 649 days – the Seawolves will play in front of their home fans at the Alaska Airlines Center when they face Biola on the opening night of the Seawolf Invitational ... UAA will play a geographically diverse group, with Texas A&M-International and Indianapolis on Friday, and a match-up against No. 18 Central Missouri in the Saturday night finale.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: Biola, from the La Mirada, Calif., posted a 6-2 record in the spring season and returns the bulk of its roster ... the Eagles were picked fourth of 11 teams in the Pac West Conference preseason poll ... Texas A&M International, from Laredo, Texas, is coming off a 4-8 marks in the Lone Star Conference South Division in the spring ... the Dust Devils are picked for 11th of 18 teams in this fall's preseason poll ... Indianapolis comes north for the first time, having posted records of 21-10 and 8-10 the last two seasons ... the Greyhounds are picked for third in the five-team East Division of the Great Lakes Valley Conference ... from Warrensburg, Mo., 18th-ranked Central Missouri has combined for 33 wins (23-10 in 2019, 10-3 last spring) over the last two seasons ... the Jennies are picked fourth in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association preseason poll.
 
HAWAIIAN STYLIN' TO START: The Seawolves got an early start to the 2021 campaign with a 3-1 record on their trip to Honolulu last week, sweeping Hawaii Pacific twice and earning a hard-fought split of 3-1 decisions against Chaminade ... in the first match, UAA overcame a slow start to eke out a 25-21, 27-25, 26-24 win behind Jr. RS Eve Stephens's 12 kills ... the rematch with the Sharks was not as close, with Stephens smashing 13 kills and Sr. MB Vera Pluharova breaking the school record with a .917 attack pct. (11-0-12) in a 25-17, 25-13, 25-13 blowout ... Jr. OH Lisa Jaunet accounted for 10 kills on .412 as UAA outhit HPU .361 to -.045 ... both Chaminade matches were epic 3-1 battles that saw the winning team take each set by the minimum two points ... Stephens tallied 22 kills and 15 digs in Saturday's 25-23, 22-25, 26-24, 25-23 setback, while Jr. S Ellen Floyd had 42 assists and 16 digs ... in the finale, Stephens had 15 kills and 18 digs and Fr. OH Nicole Blue delivered 14 kills in a 27-25, 20-25, 26-24, 25-23 Seawolf victory ... Jr. L Talia Leauanae had 14 digs and a career-high 4 aces, and Floyd had 36 assists, 17 digs and a career-high-tying 7 kills, including match point.
 
TIGHT RACE PREDICTED: The Seawolves were picked to repeat their second-place finish of 2019 in the 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, released Aug. 16.
 
2021 GNAC Volleyball Preseason Coaches' Poll
Team (1st-place votes)     2019 Records       Pts
1. Western Washington (5)  27-3, 18-2 (1st)    95
2. Alaska Anchorage (5)    23-7, 17-3 (2nd)    92
3. Central Washington      18-11, 13-7 (t-3rd) 73
4. Alaska Fairbanks        15-13, 12-8 (5th)   66
5. Seattle Pacific         13-15, 10-10 (6th)  56
6. Simon Fraser            17-11, 13-7 (t-3rd) 54
7. Northwest Nazarene      13-14, 9-11 (t-7th) 47
8. Montana State Billings  8-22, 5-15 (9th)    35
9. Saint Martin's          1-28, 1-19 (11th)   21
10. Western Oregon         5-22, 3-17 (10th)   11
Points awarded on 11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves are pursuing their 14th consecutive winning season, trying to extend the program record that began with Chris Green's arrival at UAA in 2008 ... the Seawolves are 71-16 (.816) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 118-28 (.808) 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 its 39 full seasons and seven times in 12 full seasons under Green ... UAA also enters the season with 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.
 
EVE OF DESTRUCTION: Jr. RS Eve Stephens got her fourth collegiate season off to a rousing start last week as the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year earned GNAC offensive player-of-the-week accolades for her performance in Hawaii ... the 2019 AVCA Second Team All-American and two-time unanimous All-GNAC honoree hit .288 with 4.43 kills and 5.32 points per set in Honolulu, while tying for a team-high 9 aces ... the Palmer (Colony HS) product had double-doubles in each match against Chaminade, including 22 kills in Saturday's loss and a career-high 18 digs in Sunday's victory, raising her career total to 20 double-doubles ... Stephens led the GNAC in both kills and points per set in both 2019 and 2020-21, and she continues to climb UAA's career charts, needing just 16 more kills to catch former teammate Chrisalyn Johnson (1,083 kills, 2015-18) for No. 7 on that list ... on UAA's other career lists, she currently ranks 3rd in kps (3.70), 7th in attack percentage (.288), 12th in block assists (212) and 15th in total blocks (226) ... a star in the classroom as well, Stephens was voted CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 in 2019 with her GNAC-best 4.00 GPA in accounting.
 
THINK FLOYD: Another preseason All-GNAC pick, Jr. S Ellen Floyd captured GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for her effort in Hawaii ... the 2019 All-GNAC and AVCA honorable mention All-American led the Seawolves with 3.64 digs and 10.21 assists per set, along with 0.50 blocks per set, while piloting an offense that outhit its opponents .212 to .156 ... she produced double-digit digs in three of the four outings, finishing with 17 digs and tying her career high with 7 kills in Sunday's win over Chaminade ... in the 2019 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 ... with almost two full seasons remaining, Floyd is on pace to break UAA's all-time assists and aces records, already standing 5th with 2,759 assists, and now within 100 of Shana Purvis (2,855, 1991-96) for 4th ... she is also 3rd in Seawolf history in assists average (9.38 aps), 4th in aces per set (0.405) and tied for 7th in total aces (119, needs seven more to move into top 5).
 
VETS PRODUCING: Sr. MB Vera Pluharova got her fifth and final season started in style last week, hitting a team-high .394 on the Hawaii trip, producing 2.36 kills and 0.79 blocks per set ... the Czech had 7-plus kills in all four matches, and in the second match against HPU, she broke the 20-year-old school record for attack percentage, hitting .917 (career-high-tying 11 kills, no errors, 12 attacks) to lead that sweep ... in her second year as a starter in 2019, Pluharova ranked 3rd in the GNAC and 21st nationally with 1.25 blocks per set ... Pluharova ranks 5th on UAA's career list in blocks per set (1.11), plus 6th in block assists (310), 8th in total blocks (344), 13th in attack pct. (.263) and 13th in victories (65) ... Jr. L Talia Leauanae is one of four Seawolves with three-plus years of experience in Green & Gold, and she started 2021 well with 3.21 digs per set and 9 total aces in her native Hawaii last week ... the Maui product had 2 aces and 7 digs to help hold HPU to -.045 hitting in Saturday's sweep, and she produced 18 digs in the loss to Chaminade and 14 digs and a career-high 4 aces in the win over the 'Swords ... Leauanae ranks 15th on UAA's career list with 3.10 digs per set.
 
OUTSIDE CHANCES: The Seawolves are integrating three relative newcomers to the program into the outside hitter position this season, with freshmen Nicole Blue and Mahala Kaapuni bringing 15 matches of playing experience from the spring, alongside sophomore JC transfer Lisa Jaunet ... Blue came through with 14 kills, 2 aces and 6 digs to spark Sunday's 3-1 victory over Chaminade, while Jaunet tallied 10 kills in each of the last three matches, with a .412 attack pct. in the second HPU match and a .240 mark in the Chaminade victory ... Kaapuni was big in the second HPU match as well, with 6 kills on .333 hitting and 2 aces.
 
MORE 'WOLF BITES: Redshirt Fr. DS Reilly Plumhoff made an immediate impact when she debuted in the spring and was solid again on UAA's Hawaii trip ... the local Dimond High product made 1.86 digs per set and made zero service errors in 45 attempts in Honolulu, along with an outstanding .957 reception percentage ... Plumhoff had 10 digs and dished a career-high 6 assists to aid Sunday's win over Chaminade ... Jr. MB Akor Maywin and redshirt Fr. DS Makana Eleneki saw the most extensive playing time of their careers last week, with Maywin producing 3 kills in each of the first three contests and 4 blocks in the loss to Chaminade ... Eleneki came off the bench for 10 total digs in the first three matches ... a pair of true freshmen made their Seawolf debuts in Honolulu, with MB Leilani Elder and DS Sydney Johnson contributing to the cause ... Elder, from Kansas City, Mo., came off the bench with three block assists in the HPU matches, then helped spark the Chaminade victory with her first three career kills on .200 hitting, 4 digs and 3 total blocks ... meanwhile, Johnson, from Newberg, Ore., saw action as a serving specialist, producing 4 aces on the week and her first career assist in the win over Chaminade.
 
GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 13 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (270-102, .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 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 .778 clip (179-51) 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.
 
2021 Individual Honors
ELLEN FLOYD
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, Aug. 23-29
Preseason All-GNAC Team
EVE STEPHENS
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 2020-21
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)
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