THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...

Thur., Oct. 6 – 6 pm ADT – Student Union Recreation Ctr. – Ellensburg, Wash.
#9 Alaska Anchorage (17-1, 7-0 GNAC) at Central Washington (9-6, 4-3 GNAC)
&
Sat., Oct. 8 – 10 am ADT – Johnson Sports Center – Nampa, Idaho
#9 Alaska Anchorage at Northwest Nazarene (11-4, 4-3 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])

LIVE VIDEO: Thursday at youtube.com/c/cwuathletics ... Saturday at youtube.com/watch?v=3s3X1HAzscA ... links also available at GoSeawolves.com.
LIVE STATS: Thursday at wildcatsports.com/sidearmstats/wvball
                       Saturday at nnusports.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. (10.42 aps, .201 att%, 2.60 dps, 0.42 bps, 0.42 ace/set)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, Sr. (4.55 kps, .376 att%, 2.39 dps, 0.68 bps, 0.63 ace/set)
OH—Lisa Jaunet, 5-10, Sr. (3.05 kps, .263 att%)
OH—Nicole Blue, 5-9, So. (2.11 kps, .261 att%, 1.11 dps, 0.35 bps)"
MB—Isabel Evans, 6-3, So. (1.20 kps, .307 att%, 0.88 bps)
MB—Leilani Elder, 5-10, So. (1.30 kps, .309 att%, 0.85 bps)
L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, Sr. (3.85 dps, 0.40 ace/set, 0.66 aps)

QUALITY FOES ON TAP: Riding a nine-match winning streak and up to No. 9 in the national poll, the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team faces two of its most challenging road contests this week, traveling to Central Washington on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday ... both opponents are in the NCAA Tournament chase, each at 4-3 in the GNAC standings and with a combined 20-10 overall record ... the Central Washington match will be held on campus at the Student Union Rec Center due to the current renovation work on Nicholson Pavilion ... Saturday marks the conclusion of the first half of the GNAC's round-robin schedule.

SCOUTING THE FOES: Picked second in the GNAC preseason poll, Central Washington has suffered half of its six losses to teams ranked in the top 12 nationally ... playing just their third home match of the season Thursday, the Wildcats are led by Ashley Kaufman (3.24 kps, .229 att%, 2.14 dps) and Tia Andaya (2.92 kps, .273 att%, 5.24 aps, 1.69 dps, 0.66 bps) ... following a 10-1 start, Northwest Nazarene is looking to rebound from a 1-3 slide Thursday against UAF ... picked seventh in the GNAC preseason poll, the Nighthawks are led by Natalie Sullivan (3.49 kps, .222 att%, 3.04 dps) and Olivia Wright (3.49 kps, .371 att%, 1.14 bps).

THE SERIES...
vs CWU: UAA leads 29-22; CWU leads 13-12 in Ellensburg
Streak: CWU 1
Last: CWU 3-0 (11/6/21 at CWU)
Notes: Teams have split the last 10 meetings, including both matches last year ... UAA is 20-8 vs. CWU under head coach Chris Green ... of the 28 meetings since 2008, 11 have gone 5 sets and seven have gone 4 sets, with the Seawolves winning 16 of those 18 contests ... the GNAC series is tied 20-20 (since 2001) … teams have met every season since 1999 ... first meeting was a 2-1 UAA neutral-court win in 1980 ... teams did not meet between 1983-98.

vs NNU: UAA leads 23-19; NNU leads 13-8 in Nampa
Streak: UAA 7
Last: UAA 3-1 (11/4/21 at NNU)
Notes: UAA has won 10 of the last 12 meetings, with NNU's last victory coming in Nampa in 2017 ... UAA has won three straight in Nampa ... UAA's current 7-match winning streak is its longest against NNU ... 10 of the last 12 and 20 of the last 24 matches have been 4- or 5-set affairs ... UAA is 19-8 vs. NNU under Chris Green ... UAA leads 22-18 in GNAC meetings … NNU won first meeting in 2000, 3-1, in Nampa.

STROLLIN' THE POLLS: The Seawolves remained in the AVCA Div. II Top 25 poll for the sixth straight week, rising two spots to No. 9 in Monday's poll ... the ranking marks 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. 12 Western Washington, while Central Washington and non-conference foes Point Loma and Chaminade are among teams receiving votes.

ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves stayed unbeaten in seven GNAC matches and improved to 5-0 on the road with Saturday's 25-20, 25-19, 25-14 sweep of Alaska Fairbanks ...  ... Sr. OH Lisa Jaunet led UAA with 12 kills, while Sr. S Ellen Floyd tallied 29 assists and 3 kills on .500 hitting to help UAA overcome an early 10-3 deficit in the opening set ... Sr. RS Eve Stephens added 11 kills on .346 hitting and 3 block assists, Sr. L Talia Leauanae had 12 digs, 3 aces and 2 assists, and So. MB Leilani Elder produced 4 kills on .667 hitting and 3 total blocks as UAA avenged last year's loss in Fairbanks, outhitting the Nanooks .291 to .101.

TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves' .295 team attack percentage ranks fourth in the nation, along with top-50 ranks in aces per set (19th, 2.31), assists per set (38th, 12.24) and kills per set (44th, 13.19) ... UAA leads the GNAC in attack percentage, kills per set, assists per set, aces per set, and is second in opponent attack pct. (.150) ... at 17-1, UAA has matched the 2016 team for the best 18-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 rack up record-setting numbers, now standing as the GNAC and UAA all-time leader in both points (2,032) and kills (1,709) ... 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 four GNAC player-of-the-week honors have boosted her to a GNAC-record 11 for her career ... after producing 11 kills at  UAF last week, she holds national ranks of 2nd in points per set (5.59), 8th in kills per set (4.55) and 15th in aces per set (0.63), making her the only D-II player in the top 25 in all three categories ... the Palmer (Colony HS) product has 36 double-doubles 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), 5th in attack pct. (.293), 5th in aces (135), 5th in block assists (320), 9th in total blocks (348) and 7th in victories (89) ... 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 fourth-best team attack percentage (.295) in NCAA Div. II thus far, while ranking 28th individually with 10.42 assists per set ... the co-MVP of the Seawolf Invitational in August, she holds GNAC ranks of 2nd in assists per set, 15th in aces per set (0.42) and 17th in digs per set (2.60, the most among GNAC setters) ... having already broken the UAA career records for assists (4,370) and aces (193), Floyd has her sights on both GNAC marks, currently at No. 3 in assists and No. 2 in aces; she needs just one more assist to rise to second and five 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 12 of 18 matches, helping UAA hit no lower than .225 all but twice ... Floyd's 64 assists against Florida Southern were the most by a Seawolf since 2004, and she has produced double-digit digs in seven matches ... the NCAA's active career aces leader (193), Floyd holds current UAA ranks of 1st in assists and aces, 3rd in assists average (9.67 aps), 3rd in aces per set (0.43), 6th in digs (1,182) and 6th in victories (91) ... 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 14 of 18 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 (3.85) and 8th in aces per set (0.40) ... on UAA's career lists, she stands 4th in total digs (1,277) and 11th in digs per set (3.40) ... 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 eight 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 (3.05), 13th in points per set (3.16) and 14th in attack pct. (.263), while she is 17th on UAA's career list for attack pct. at .268.

MORE 'WOLF BITES: Third-year sophomore OH Nicole Blue has also shown marked improvement from her 2021 production, ripping at least five kills in 17 of 18 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 16th in the GNAC with her .261 attack pct. ... another pair of sophomores have taken over in the middle this year, with returnee Leilani Elder (0.85 bps) and JC transfer Isabel Evans (0.88 bps) both ranking among the GNAC's top 12 in blocks per set ... Elder has tallied four or more kills on 10 occasions and multiple blocks in 12 of 14 appearances, including recent career highs of 8 block assists at SPU and 7 kills against SFU ... meanwhile, Evans has recorded at least .250 hitting in 10 of 18 matches since transferring from Williston State College, including five .500-plus efforts ... the Montanan hit a UAA season-best .714 with 10 kills against Florida Southern, .600 in the win over Hawaii Pacific and .667 in the sweep of No. 25 Chaminade.

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 (303-114, .727) 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 .771 clip (212-63) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .818 (130-29) 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
Seawolf Invitational co-Most Outstanding Player
Preseason All-GNAC Team
LISA JAUNET
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
EVE STEPHENS
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 — 2,032 by Eve Stephens, 2018-current (old record: 1,973 by Jen Szczerbinski, 1988-90, 1992)
Most Kills — 1,709 by Eve Stephens, 2018-current (old record: 1,691 by Jen Szczerbinski, 1988-90, 1992)
Most Assists — 4,370 by Ellen Floyd, 2018-current (old record: 3,920 by Morgan Hooe, 2013-16)
Most Aces — 193 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)