THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thu., Oct. 26 — Royal Brougham Pavilion — Seattle, Wash. — 6 pm ADT
Alaska Anchorage (12-14, 4-7 GNAC) at #19 Seattle Pacific (16-3, 10-1 GNAC)
&
Sat., Oct. 28 — Alterowitz Gymnasium — Billings, Mont. — 11 am ADT
Alaska Anchorage at Montana State Billings (3-18, 1-10 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgYnnovKslo
                       Saturday at https://shorturl.at/aJQ18 (MSUB YouTube channel)
LIVE STATS: Thursday: spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/wvball
                       Saturday: msubsports.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023 stats)
S—Makana Eleneki, 5-6, Jr. (0.38 kps, .362 att%, 5.68 aps, 3.26 dps)
RS—Bella Burney, 6-0, Fr. (1.53 kps, .156 att%, 0.61 bps)
OH—Bethany Tuchardt, 6-2, So. (2.58 kps, .206 att%, 0.60 bps)
OH—Nicole Blue, 5-9, Sr. (3.26 kps, .178 att%, 2.69 dps, 0.48 ace/set)
MB—Isabel Evans, 6-3, Jr. (1.69 kps, .209 att%, 1.02 bps)
MB—Leilani Elder, 5-10, Jr. (1.53 kps, .188 att%, 0.83 bps)
L—Reilly Plumhoff, 5-4, Jr. (3.30 dps)
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Seawolves look to get back on track this week after going 1-3 in a four-match homestand, facing league-leading Seattle Pacific on Thursday (6 pm ADT) and last-place Montana State Billings on Saturday (11 am ADT).
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Winners of 15 of its last 16 and three matches ahead in the hunt for the GNAC title, 19th-ranked Seattle Pacific brings a four-match winning streak into Thursday's contest ... the Falcons, whose lone GNAC loss came at home to Western Washington, are led by Sarah Brachvogel (league-best 3.32 kps, .211 att%, 2.09 dps) and Hannah Hair (1.63 kps, .302 att%, nation-best 1.67 bps) ... Montana State Billings has dropped three straight since earning its lone league victory Oct. 7 against WWU – a result that snapped the Yellowjackets' 26-match GNAC losing skid ... MSUB is led by Julia Gordon (2.46 kps, .156 att%) and Allison Aubrey (1.65 kps, .066 att%, 2.65 dps).
 
THE SERIES...
vs SPU: UAA leads 33-31 overall, 16-15 in Seattle
Streak: SPU 1
Last: SPU 3-1 (9/30/23 at UAA)
Notes: Teams have split the last four meetings; UAA had won 16 of the last 17 previous matches ... the Seawolves have won 11 of the last 12 meetings in Seattle, including a 3-2 win last season ... UAA leads 26-17 in GNAC matches (since 2001) ... first meetings came in 1991 as members of the Pac West Conference.
 
vs MSUB: UAA leads 56-11 overall, 26-6 in Billings
Streak: UAA 9
Last: UAA 3-0 (9/28/23 at UAA)
Notes: The Seawolves have won 24 of the past 25 meetings, including 3-0 wins in the last five matches ... UAA has won 12 straight in Billings since the 'Jackets handed the 2009 GNAC title team its lone league road loss that season, 3-1 ... MSUB's lone win over the last decade was a 3-1 upset in UAA's 2017 home finale ... teams have not played a 5-setter since 2008 ... UAA leads 25-6 since MSUB joined the GNAC in 2007 ... MSUB is UAA's second-most common opponent, trailing only UAF … teams met twice per season every year from 1985-2000 as members of the Pac West.
 
NO LUCK AT HOME: The Seawolves suffered rare back-to-back losses on their home court last week, falling 3-1 to Simon Fraser and 3-0 to Western Washington ... in the first match, Sr. OH Nicole Blue had 16 kills, but the Red Leafs pulled out the key points late in the first and fourth sets for a 26-24, 16-25, 25-16, 25-22 win ... on Saturday, Blue delivered a match-high 13 kills and Jr. L Reilly Plumhoff managed 12 digs, but the Vikings outhit the hosts .233 to .130 for a 26-24, 25-23, 25-16 victory.
 
FEELIN' BLUE: The Seawolves' lone senior and Preseason All-GNAC pick, OH Nicole Blue has lived up to the hype, leading the GNAC with 3.99 points per set, along ranks of 2nd in kills (3.26 kps), 2nd in aces (0.48) and 17th in digs (2.69) ... the team's most experienced all-rotation player, Blue has eight double-doubles (the first of her career), including 15 kills and a career-high 23 digs in the win over Hawaii Hilo, and a career-high 20 kills in a 4-setter at WWU ... the Cerritos, Calif., native has reached double-figure kills in 20 of 26 contests, including 19 in the loss to Hilo, 18 in a loss to Chaminade, and 18 in the 3-0 win over Union ... Blue set the UAA rally-scoring (since 2001) record with 8 aces in a 3-set match against Arkansas Monticello, and is currently on pace for UAA's third-most aces per set (0.48) since 25-point rally scoring took effect in 2008.
 
KILLER 'E's: UAA's two veteran returners in the middle have stepped into leadership roles this season as Jr. MB Leilani Elder and Jr. MB Isabel Evans are combining for 3.22 kills and 1.85 blocks per set thus far ... Elder was clutch in helping UAA to a 3-1 record at its own Seawolf Invitational, hitting over .300 in each match and finishing with consecutive career highs of 8 and 11 kills in the victories over Cal Poly Humboldt and Florida Tech ... meanwhile, Evans connected for 11 kills on .550 hitting to power the 3-2 comeback win over Upper Iowa and tallied a career-high 12 kills in the 3-1 loss at Western Washington ... Evans currently ranks 6th in the GNAC with 1.02 blocks per set, and Elder is 16th with 0.83 bps ... on UAA's career list, Evans ranks 12th with 1.03 bps.
 
GOT YER BACK: The Seawolves have one of the top back-row tandems in the GNAC this year as Jr. L/DS Reilly Plumhoff and So. L/DS Madison Galloway are combining for 5.99 digs per set and a ..935 reception percentage ... currently 9th in the GNAC stats with 3.30 dps, Plumhoff collected Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament honors in September and posted a career-high 23 digs in the 5-set win at Western Oregon ... the former Dimond High standout also had 4 aces to key the win over Florida Tech, and now stands top 20 on UAA's career lists for aces (20th, 102), aces per set (19th, .297) and victories (18th, 64) ... meanwhile, Galloway has recorded double-digit digs in 12 matches, topping out with a career-high 21 digs to key the 3-1 victory over Northwest Nazarene ... Galloway ranks 16th in the GNAC with 2.69 dps, while the Floridian owns a team-best .942 serve reception rate, committing multiple reception errors in just four of 26 matches.
 
SETTER UP: For the first time since 2017, the Seawolves are using two primary setters, with juniors Makana Eleneki and Kadyn Osborne taking over offensive quarterback duties ... a graduate student in her fifth year with the program, Eleneki has impressed with 5.68 assists per set (8th in GNAC) thus far, while also managing 2.15 digs per set ... although not a huge attacker, Eleneki has made the most of her opportunities, collecting 31 kills on just 69 attacks for a team-best .344 hitting pct. ... one of three former local Dimond High stars on the roster, Osborne is posting 4.80 aps and solid blocking numbers of 0.38 in a primarily '6-2' rotation ... Osborne has dished at least 20 assists on nine occasions and registered multiple kills in 14 of her 25 appearances, along with 5 block assists in the 3-1 win over Florida Tech.
 
I HEART TUCHARDT: An All-NWAC performer at Highline (Wash.) College, Jr. OH Bethany Tuchardt (pronounced TOO-hart) has started her NCAA career with double-digit kills in 14 of her first 26 matches, including the last six of the last nine contests ... UAA's second-leading kills producer with 2.58 kps (11th GNAC), she started her home career with 14 kills on .355 hitting to power the win over Upper Iowa ... the Battle Ground, Wash., native captured GNAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for her performance in Arkansas, which included a 14-kill effort on .565 hitting against Ouachita and 16 kills on .429 hitting in the win over Henderson State.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA's .409 attack percentage against Ouachita Baptist was the program's 12th-best since rally scoring took effect in 2001 ... the -.049 attack percentage by Arkansas Monticello and the -.040 by UAF marked the 7th- and 8th-best opponent attack numbers by a UAA team in the rally scoring era ... the 14 aces (with no errors) against Monticello were the most by a Seawolf team since Oct. 22, 2019 ... the Seawolves saw their Alaska Airlines Center record streak of 16 straight victories come to an end with the loss to St. Cloud State ... the Seawolves are aiming for their 16th consecutive winning season, 14th straight winning conference record and 14th straight top-4 GNAC finish in 2023 ... the Seawolves are 99-24 at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 146-36 at home since 2009 ... with the loss to Central Washington, the Seawolves are now 25-21 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014.
 
EYES ON MEISNER: After six seasons as the program's top assistant, former Seawolf standout Stacie Meisner takes the head coaching reins in 2023 ... in her six years on former mentor Chris Green's staff, Meisner helped the Seawolves achieve a 119-42 record and NCAA Tournament appearances in four of the five seasons not affected by Covid ... UAA went a combined 74-20 in the GNAC during her assistant-coaching tenures, finishing no worse than third place and capturing the league title in 2022 ... Meisner began her collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant on UAA's 2011 club that went 18-9 and earned an NCAA berth ... she rejoined UAA in the same capacity in 2018 and was promoted to top assistant in 2019 ... UAA's starting libero from 2008-09, helping spark the program's turnaround; in 2009, she led UAA with 4.54 digs and 0.36 aces per set as the Seawolves won their first GNAC title, reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament and equaled the best record in school history at 23-8 ... an honorable mention All-GNAC and academic all-conference honoree, she finished No. 2 in digs per set (4.53) and No. 3 in aces per set (.357) on UAA's career lists ... also a JC star at Western Nebraska CC in 2006-07, Meisner graduated from UAA with magna cum laude honors in English in 2011, before earning her Master of Arts in English from UAA in 2015.
 
2023 Individual Honors
NICOLE BLUE
Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic All-Tournament Team
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Aug. 21-27
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
LEILANI ELDER
Reddie-Tiger Invitational All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
MAKANA ELENEKI
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
REILLY PLUMHOFF
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
BETHANY TUCHARDT
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 11-17
Reddie-Tiger Invitational All-Tournament Team