THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
UAA hosts Seawolf Invitational
Alaska Airlines Center – Anchorage, Alaska
(all times listed ADT)
Thursday, Aug. 25
4 pm: Point Loma (0-0) vs Alaska Fairbanks (3-1)
7 pm: Lubbock Christian (0-0) vs Alaska Anchorage (3-0)
Friday, Aug. 26
9:30 am: Emmanuel (0-0) vs Alaska Anchorage
Noon: Pittsburg State (0-0) vs Point Loma
2:30 pm: Emmanuel vs Alaska Fairbanks
5 pm: Lubbock Christian vs Pittsburg State
7:30 pm: Point Loma vs Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, Aug. 27
9 am: Lubbock Christian vs Alaska Fairbanks
11 am: Point Loma vs Emmanuel
2 pm: Pittsburg State vs Alaska Fairbanks
4:30 pm: Emmanuel vs Lubbock Christian
7 pm: Pittsburg State vs Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: All matches free at youtube.com/c/UAASeawolves
 
LIVE STATS: All matches at 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. (9.11 aps, .238 att%, 2.33 dps, 0.56 ace/set)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-1, Sr. (4.00 kps, .351 att%, 1.89 dps, 0.67 bps)
OH—Lisa Jaunet, 5-10, Sr. (2.56 kps, .237 att%)
OH—Nicole Blue, 5-9, So. (2.33 kps, .370 att%, 1.33 dps, 0.56 bps)
MB—Isabel Evans, 6-3, So. (1.56 kps, .522 att%, 0.89 bps)
MB—Leilani Elder, 5-10, So. (0.75 kps, .200 att%, 0.75 bps)
L—Talia Leauanae, 5-8, Sr. (3.44 dps, 0.33 ace/set, 0.78 aps)
 
2022 SEASON PREVIEW: The Seawolves return nine letterwinners – including five starters – from last year's NCAA Tournament squad as they attempt to challenge for their first GNAC title since 2016 ... UAA should feature four seniors in its primary rotation, with All-America candidates Eve Stephens and Ellen Floyd leading the way at right-side hitter and setter ... Sr. L Talia Leauanae and So. DS Reilly Plumhoff provide proven back-row defense, while Sr. OH Lisa Jaunet will look to improve on her 2.47 kills per set and .185 attack pct. from her debut campaign ... meanwhile, the Seawolves must replace both starting middle blockers, with returning So. MB Leilani Elder among several candidates to step into big roles.
 
BRIEF 2021 RECAP: After having its 2020 season interrupted by the pandemic, the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team returned to the court in 2021 to claim an 19-12 overall record and its second straight NCAA Tournament berth ... the Seawolves went 12-6 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference to tie for second place and earn the No. 8 seed for the NCAA Div. II West Regional Championships, where they lost to top seed and host Cal State San Bernardino in four sets.
 
ALOHA MEANS PERFECTION: The Seawolves got an early jump on the regular season with a perfect start in Honolulu last week, sweeping all three contests against the Hawaii schools ... on Friday, Sr. RS Eve Stephens blasted 14 kills on .542 hitting and So. OH Nicole Blue had 9 kills on career-best .571 hitting in a 25-18, 25-14, 25-12 rout of Hawaii Pacific ... Sr. S Ellen Floyd dished 32 assists and So. MB Isabel Evans premiered with 6 kills on .600 hitting and 3 block assists ... on Saturday, Stephens had 10 kills and Sr. OH Lisa Jaunet banged 8 kills on .412 hitting in a 25-18, 25-8, 25-17 sweep of Hawaii Hilo ... Blue added 6 kills nad 3 blocks against the Vulcans, who were held to -.033 hitting ... in the finale, Stephens had 12 kills, 8 digs and 3 blocks to power a 25-15, 25-20, 25-22 win over No. 25 Chaminade ... Evans tallied 5 kills on just 6 attacks, and Sr. L Talia Leauanae produced 11 digs against the defending Pac West Conference champs.
 
THE SERIES...
vs Lubbock Christian, Emmanuel & Pitt State: First meeting
 
vs Point Loma: UAA leads 4-1 overall, 0-0 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 4
Last: UAA 3-0 (9/14/19 at San Bernardino, Calif.)
Notes: Four of the first five meetings have been neutral-court affairs ... first meeting was a Point Loma win in 2008, when Sea Lions were an NAIA program.
 
THE OPPONENTS...
Lubbock Christian
  Location: Lubbock, Texas
  Conference: Lone Star Conference
  2021 Records: 20-8, 14-3 (t-3rd of 18)
  2022 Preseason LSC Poll: 4th of 17
 
Emmanuel
  Location: Franklin Springs, Georgia
  Conference: Conference Carolinas
  2021 Records: 18-14, 13-5 (2nd of 7, West Div.)
  2022 Preseason CC Poll: 4th of 13
 
Point Loma
  Location: San Diego, California
  Conference: Pacific West Conference
  2021 Records: 14-13, 10-9 (6th of 11)
  2022 Preseason PWC Poll: 5th of 11
 
Pittsburg State
  Location: Pittsburg, Kansas
  Conference: Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Assoc.
  2021 Records: 15-13, 9-11 (6th of 11)
  2022 Preseason MIAA Poll: 6th of 11
 
TEAM NOTES: The -.033 attack percentage allowed against Hawaii Hilo was UAA's best defensive mark since holding Concord to -.082 hitting on Sept. 6, 2019 ... the Seawolves are aiming for their 15th consecutive winning season, hoping to extend the program record that began with Chris Green's arrival at UAA in 2008 ... UAA is also on program-best streaks with 12 straight winning conference records and 12 straight top-4 GNAC finishes ... 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 ... the Seawolves are 23-18 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014 and 32-45 overall vs. ranked opponents under Green; prior to Green's arrival, UAA had lost 32 straight to ranked foes.
 
ALL ABOUT EVE: Now in her fifth season in Green & Gold, Sr. RS Eve Stephens continues to rack up numbers at a record-setting pace, capturing her third straight unanimous All-GNAC Team and second straight AVCA Second Team All-America awards in 2021 ... the career active kills leader in NCAA Div. II, Stephens last year posted GNAC ranks of 2nd in points per set (4.67, 14th nationally), 2nd in kills per set (3.84, 28th nationally), 4th in aces per set (0.42) and 13th in hitting pct. (.257), along with solid defensive numbers of 2.35 digs and 0.79 blocks per set ... the Palmer (Colony HS) product had 11 double-doubles last year and now 29 for her career after leading the GNAC in both kills and points per set in 2019 and 2020-21 ... with 1,463 career kills, Stephens has risen to No. 2 on the Seawolves' all-time list, on pace to break Jen Szczerbinski's 30-year-old program record of 1,691 ... on UAA's other career lists, Stephens ranks 3rd in kps (3.72), 8th in attack percentage (.280), 7th in block assists (292), 10th in total blocks (312) and 13th in victories (75) ... 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.
 
THINK FLOYD: A two-time All-GNAC selection and 2019 AVCA honorable mention All-American, Sr. S Ellen Floyd was named to the Preseason All-GNAC Team  ... the Floridian led the GNAC with 0.48 aces per set (38th nationally) and ranked 3rd with 10.07 assists per set last year, and she was second on the team and 16th in the league with 2.91 digs per set – all while piloting an offense that has outhit its opponents .219 to .161 ... the NCAA active leader in career assists, Floyd already owns UAA's career aces record (172) and is on pace to break the all-time assists mark as early as this weekend, currently 3rd with 3,806 ... her other career ranks stand at 3rd in assists average (9.54 aps), 3rd in aces per set (0.431) and 12th in victories (77) ... 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.
 
'WOLF BITES: Sr. L Talia Leauanae is one of three Seawolves in her fifth year in Green & Gold ... in 2021, the Hawaiian produced well with 3.71 digs per set (10th in GNAC) and 0.45 aces per set (2nd in GNAC behind Floyd) ... Leauanae led UAA in digs in all three matches last week in Hawaii, producing 3.44 dps and moving into the top 10 on the program's all-time list, now with 1,069 ... Sr. OH Lisa Jaunet made her Seawolf debut last year, ranking 2nd on the team with 2.47 kills per set (18th in GNAC) on .185 hitting ... the JC transfer had at least seven kills in each match in Honolulu last week, including 8 kills on .412 hitting in the sweep of Hawaii Hilo ... So. DS Reilly Plumhoff saw action in 28 of 31 matches last year, ranking second on the team with a .923 reception percentage and fourth with 1.94 digs per set ... another third-year sophomore, OH/DS Nicole Blue played in 30 matches and 99 of 110 sets last year ... the Californian got off to a hot start in Hawaii, producing at least six kills in all three matches – including 9 kills on career-best .571 hitting against HPU ... So. MB Isabel Evans made an impressive debut last week as the Williston State College transfer totaled 14 kills on team-best .522 hitting against the Hawaii schools ... the Montana native opened with a .600 (6-0-10) hitting performance against HPU and also led UAA with 8 total blocks on the weekend.
 
GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 14 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (289-113, .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 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 .762 clip (198-62) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .809 (123-29) 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
Preseason All-GNAC Team
EVE STEPHENS
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Aug. 15-21
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2022
INDIVIDUAL
Career
Most Aces — 172 by Ellen Floyd, 2018-current (extends record set in 2021)
TEAM
Match
Fewest Blocks Allowed — 0 at Hawaii Pacific, Aug. 19 (ties record last accomplished vs. Northwest Nazarene, 10/9/21)