THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thur., Oct. 13 – 7 pm ADT – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Seattle Pacific (8-9, 6-3 GNAC) at #9 Alaska Anchorage (19-1, 9-0 GNAC)
&
Sat., Oct. 15 – 7 pm ADT – Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
Montana State Billings (7-10, 0-9 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF]) at #9 Alaska Anchorage
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/c/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball
SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAVolleyball Twitter feed for in-match updates
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2022 stats)
S—Ellen Floyd, 5-10, Sr. (10.33 aps, .209 att%, 2.68 dps, 0.43 bps, 0.41 ace/set)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, Sr. (4.48 kps, .358 att%, 2.57 dps, 0.78 bps, 0.61 ace/set)
OH—Lisa Jaunet, 5-10, Sr. (3.04 kps, .263 att%)
OH—Nicole Blue, 5-9, So. (2.03 kps, .238 att%, 1.06 dps, 0.38 bps)
MB—Isabel Evans, 6-3, So. (1.22 kps, .293 att%, 0.97 bps)
MB—Leilani Elder, 5-10, So. (1.36 kps, .304 att%, 0.89 bps)
L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, Sr. (3.80 dps, 0.41 ace/set, 0.62 aps)
 
GNAC SECOND HALF STARTS AT HOME: Riding an 11-match winning streak and ranked No. 9 in the national poll, the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team returns to the Alaska Airlines Center this week for home matches against longtime rivals Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings ... this week's matches mark the beginning of the second half of the GNAC's round-robin schedule ... Thursday's match will be UAA's third in a row against the team that currently sits third in the GNAC standings.
 
SCOUTING THE FOES: Following a 3-9 start against perhaps the toughest schedule in the nation (including five ranked opponents), Seattle Pacific has ripped off five straight victories after sweeping MSU Billings last week at home ... the Falcons feature an extremely balanced offense, led by Ashley Antoniak (2.48 kps, .208 att%, 2.03 dps) and Hannah Hair (1.89 kps, .383 att%, 0.92 bps) ... Montana State Billings has gone the opposite direction, starting season 6-1 before dropping nine straight GNAC contests ... the Yellowjackets are led by Caty Havekost (2.82 kps, .170 att%) and Jahsita Fa'ali'i (2.58 kps, .135 att%, 2.54 dps).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SPU: UAA leads 32-30 overall, 16-13 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 3-2 (9/17/22 at SPU)
Notes: UAA has won 17 of the last 19 meetings, including six of seven matches at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in 2014 ... SPU's lone victory in Anchorage over the last decade came by a 3-2 count in 2018 ... UAA is 23-6 against SPU under Chris Green and leads 25-16 in GNAC matches (since 2001) ... first meetings came in 1991 as members of the Pac West Conference.
 
vs MSUB: UAA leads 54-11 overall, 26-6 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 7
Last: UAA 3-0 (9/15/22 at MSUB)
Notes: The Seawolves have won 22 of the past 23 meetings, including 3-0 wins in the last three matches ... UAA has won three straight and 10 of the last 11 in Anhorage ... MSUB's lone win last decade was a 3-1 upset in UAA's 2017 home finale ... teams have not played a 5-setter since 2008 ... UAA leads 23-6 since MSUB joined the GNAC in 2007, including 23-4 under Chris Green ... MSUB is UAA's 2nd-most common opponent, trailing only UAF … teams met twice per season every year from 1985-2000 as members of the Pac West.
 
STROLLIN' THE POLLS: The Seawolves remained in the AVCA Div. II Top 25 poll for the seventh straight week, staying at No. 9 in Monday's poll ... last week marked UAA's first time in the top 10 since starting the 2017 campaign at No. 4 ... UAA is one of two GNAC teams in the rankings, along with No. 11 Western Washington, while Central Washington and non-conference foe Chaminade are among teams receiving votes.
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves stayed unbeaten in nine GNAC matches and improved to 7-0 on the road with wins over fellow playoff contenders Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene last week ... on Thursday, Sr. RS Eve Stephens had 11 kills, 10 digs and 6 total blocks to propel UAA's most lopsided road win ever against CWU, 25-20, 25-20, 25-16 ... Sr. OH Lisa Jaunet added 9 kills, while So. MB Isabel Evans had a career-high 7 block assists ... on Saturday, Stephens racked up 16 kills, 6 block assists and a career-high 19 digs in a 25-20, 23-25, 25-14, 25-21 victory over the Nighthawks ... Sr. S Ellen Floyd tallied 4 assists, 16 digs, 4 kills and 3 blocks, while So. MB Leilani Elder (8 kills) and Fr. MB Emma Patterson (4 kills, 5 total blocks) each recorded career highs ... for their efforts, Floyd (offensive) and Stephens (defensive) swept the GNAC Player of the Week awards.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves' .285 team attack percentage ranks fifth in the nation, along with top-50 ranks in aces per set (20th, 2.28), assists per set (42nd, 12.19), kills per set (45th, 13.13) and opponent attack pct. (47TH, .145) ... UAA leads the GNAC in attack percentage, kills per set, assists per set, aces per set, and is second in opponent attack pct. ... at 19-1, UAA has matched the 2016 NCAA Runner-up team for the best 20-match record in program history ... UAA's 8-0 start marked its third-longest unbeaten streak to begin a season ... the -.033 attack percentage allowed against Hawaii Hilo was UAA's best defensive mark since Sept. 6, 2019, while the -.022 allowed vs. WOU was UAA's third-lowest in 20 years of GNAC play ... UAA's .488 attack pct. against Emmanuel and the .427 mark against Lubbock Christian rank as the program's 2nd- and 5th-best hitting percentages since the rally-scoring era began in 2001 ... the Seawolves have already claimed their 15th consecutive winning season, extending the program record that began with Chris Green's arrival at UAA in 2008 ... UAA is seeking to improve program-best streaks of 12 straight winning conference records and 12 straight top-4 GNAC finishes ... the Seawolves are 89-19 (.824) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 136-31 (.814) at home since 2009; UAA has never lost three straight matches at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the Seawolves are 24-18 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014 and 33-45 overall against ranked opponents under Green; prior to Green's arrival, UAA had lost 32 straight to ranked foes.
 
EVE OF DESTRUCTION: A three-time unanimous All-GNAC performer and two-time AVCA Second Team All-American, Sr. RS Eve Stephens continues to increase her record-setting numbers, now standing as the GNAC and UAA all-time leader in both points (2,069) and kills (1,736) ... the active career kills leader in NCAA Div. II, Stephens was named the AVCA National Player of the Week for her MVP effort at the Ice Block Classic in Fairbanks, while her five GNAC player-of-the-week honors have boosted her to a GNAC-record 12 for her career ... after producing 27 kills last week, she holds national ranks of 2nd in points per set (5.55), 8th in kills per set (4.48) and 15th in aces per set (0.61), making her the only D-II player in the top 25 in all three categories ... the Palmer (Colony HS) product has nine double-doubles this year and 36 for her career, having led the GNAC in both kills and points per set in 2019 and 2020-21 ... Stephens also holds UAA program career ranks of 2nd in kills per set (3.83), 7th in attack pct. (.291), 5th in aces (138), 5th in block assists (331), 9th in total blocks (360) and 7th in victories (91) ... a star in the classroom as well, she is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 and 2021 Third Team Academic All-America honoree.
 
PLAY SOME FLOYD: A two-time All-GNAC selection and 2019 AVCA honorable mention All-American, Sr. S Ellen Floyd has led UAA to the fifth-best team attack percentage (.285) in NCAA Div. II thus far, while ranking 33rd individually with 10.33 assists per set ... the co-MVP of the Seawolf Invitational in August, she holds GNAC ranks of 2nd in assists per set, 6th in aces per set (0.41) and 17th in digs per set (2.68, the most among GNAC setters) ... having already broken the UAA career records for assists (4,437) and aces (195), Floyd has her sights on both GNAC marks, currently at No. 2 in assists and aces; she needs just three more aces to tie CWU's Erin Norris (198 aces, 2006-09) atop that list ... the Florida native has produced at least 30 assists in 13 of 20 matches, helping UAA hit at least .225 in 16 of 20 contests ... Floyd's 64 assists against Florida Southern were the most by a Seawolf since 2004, and she has produced double-digit digs in eight matches ... the NCAA's active career aces leader (195), Floyd holds current UAA ranks of 1st in assists and aces, 3rd in assists average (9.67 aps), 3rd in aces per set (0.425), 6th in digs (1,206) and 6th in victories (93) ... with a 3.86 GPA in accounting, Floyd earned her third straight GNAC All-Academic nod last year and joined Eve Stephens to give UAA two of the eight selections to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Team.
 
SENIOR STRENGTH: One of three Seawolves in her fifth year in Green & Gold, Sr. L Talia Leauanae is producing her finest campaign to date ... the Hawaiian has posted double-digit digs in 15 of 20 matches, including a UAA season-high 25 against Florida Southern and 22 in the sweep of Black Hills State ... she also delivered 4 aces with no service errors  in wins over both Point Loma and Arkansas-Fort Smith ... Leauanae holds GNAC ranks of 5th in digs per set (3.80) and 6th in aces per set (0.41) ... on UAA's career lists, she stands 4th in total digs (1,300), 11th in digs per set (3.39), 16th in aces (106) and 20th in aces per set (0.28)... a former JC transfer, Sr. OH Lisa Jaunet appears twice as comfortable in her second season in Green & Gold ... the St. Denis, France, native has had at least seven kills in each match and double figures in nine contests, producing 10 on .563 hitting against Lubbock Christian, eight on career-best .667 hitting against Emmanuel and a career-high 25 to lead the comeback win over Point Loma ... in the GNAC stats, Jaunet ranks 6th in kills per set (3.04), 12th in points per set (3.15) and 13th in attack pct. (.263), while she is 17th on UAA's career list for attack pct. at .269.
 
MORE 'WOLF BITES: Third-year sophomore OH Nicole Blue has also shown marked improvement from her 2021 production, ripping at least five kills in 18 of 20 matches and hitting at least .300 on eight occasions ... the Southern Californian helped spark the comeback against Point Loma with 13 kills on .313 hitting, and she had a combined 16 kills on .469 hitting in the road wins at MSUB and SPU ... Blue ranks 19th in the GNAC with her .238 attack pct. ... So. MB Leilani Elder has tallied four or more kills in 12 or her last 13 appearances and multiple blocks in 14 of 16 overall outings, topping out with career highs of 8 kills and 10.5 points Saturday at NNU ... the Kansas City native is hitting .370 over the last five matches and currently ranks 11th in the GNAC with 0.89 blocks per set ... Jr. MB Isabel Evans rose to 8th in the GNAC with 0.97 blocks per set after posting a career-high 7 block assists at CWU on Thursday ... So. DS Reilly Plumhoff had 3 aces at NNU for her seventh multi-ace performance this year ... the Dimond HS product now ranks 15th in the league with 0.36 aces per set ... So. DS Makana Eleneki has delivered well in her role as a serving specialist this year, posting team bests in ace-to-error ratio (18 aces, 9 errors) and serve percentage (.953).
 
GREEN MACHINE: Having now led UAA to an unprecedented 15 straight winning seasons and with more than 750 combined victories at the JC and D-II levels, UAA head coach Chris Green (305-114, .728) 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 10 of the last 12 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 .772 clip (214-63) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .820 (132-29) in league play ... Green's UAA teams have produced nine 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.
 
2022 Individual Honors
ELLEN FLOYD
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Oct. 3-9
Seawolf Invitational co-Most Outstanding Player
Preseason All-GNAC Team
LISA JAUNET
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
EVE STEPHENS
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, Oct. 3-9
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 19-25
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 12-18
AVCA D-II National Player of the Week, Aug. 30-Sept. 5
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Aug. 29-Sept. 4
Ice Block Classic MVP
Seawolf Invitational co-Most Outstanding Player
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Aug. 15-21
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2022
INDIVIDUAL
Career
Most Points — 2,069 by Eve Stephens, 2018-current (old record: 1,973 by Jen Szczerbinski, 1988-90, 1992)
Most Kills — 1,736 by Eve Stephens, 2018-current (old record: 1,691 by Jen Szczerbinski, 1988-90, 1992)
Most Assists — 4,437 by Ellen Floyd, 2018-current (old record: 3,920 by Morgan Hooe, 2013-16)
Most Aces — 195 by Ellen Floyd, 2018-current (extends record set in 2021)
TEAM
Match
Highest Attack Pct. vs. Non-Conference Opponent, Rally-Scoring Era (since 2001) — .488 (46-4-86) vs Emmanuel, Ga., 8/26 (old record: .444 vs Concord, 9/6/19)
Fewest Blocks Allowed — 0 at Hawaii Pacific, Aug. 19 (ties record last accomplished vs. Northwest Nazarene, 10/9/21)