THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thu., Nov. 16 — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK — 6 pm AST
Alaska Fairbanks (14-17, 7-10 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (15-17, 7-10 GNAC)
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023 stats)
S—Makana Eleneki, 5-6, Jr. (0.36 kps, .357 att%, 5.70 aps, 2.14 dps)
RS—Bella Burney, 6-0, Fr. (1.63 kps, .162 att%, 0.63 bps)
OH—Bethany Tuchardt, 6-2, So. (2.54 kps, .183 att%, 0.56 bps)
OH—Nicole Blue, 5-9, Sr. (3.33 kps, .165 att%, 2.64 dps, 0.47 ace/set)
MB—Isabel Evans, 6-3, Jr. (1.79 kps, .212 att%, 1.07 bps)
MB—Leilani Elder, 5-10, Jr. (1.50 kps, .183 att%, 0.81 bps)
L—Reilly Plumhoff, 5-4, Jr. (3.39 dps, 0.28 ace/set)
 
SENIOR CELEBRATION: The Seawolves conclude the 2023 campaign with an in-state showdown against rival Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the winner of the season finale will likely finish sixth or seventh in the final GNAC standings ... Thursday's match will feature 'senior night' ceremonies beforehand, honoring Sr. OH Nicole Blue, along with Jr. MB Isabel Evans and Jr. L Reilly Plumhoff, who are each foregoing their final year of eligibility.
 
A LOOK AT THE 'NOOKS: Alaska Fairbanks snapped a four-match skid with Saturday's 3-1 victory at Northwest Nazarene, staying alive for a chance at sixth place in the final GNAC standings ... the Nanooks are led by Karli Nielson (2.93 kps, .187 att%, 1.91 dps) and Rilee White (1.53 kps, .124 att%, 2.34 dps).
 
THE SERIES...
vs UAF: UAA leads 79-38 overall, 44-13 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 3
Last: UAA 3-0 (9/7/23 at UAF)
Notes: UAA has won eight of the last 12 meetings, following a 16-match win streak from 2010-18 ... UAA is 12-1 at home against UAF since 2011, with the only loss coming in an empty UAA Sports Complex in the spring 2021 pandemic season ... UAA leads 8-0 at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014) ... UAA leads 31-12 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) ... teams have played at least twice per season since 1980.
 
ROAD FINALES: The Seawolves came up short in their road finales at Northwest Nazarene and No. 19 Central Washington, despite a pair of double-doubles from Sr. OH Nicole Blue ... on Thursday, Blue had 17 kills and 17 digs, but the Nighthawks repelled four third-set match points to earn a 23-25, 23-25, 27-25, 25-20, 15-9 decision ... Jr. MB Isabel Evans tied her career high with 13 kills and posted 7 total blocks, and So. DS Madison Galloway had 17 digs as NNU snapped a 10-match losing streak in the series ... on Saturday, Blue had 13 kills and 11 digs, but CWU dominated the first, third and fourth sets to claim a 25-16, 23-25, 25-15, 25-12 win ... Galloway led UAA with 12 digs, while Fr. OH/DS Trinity Tatupu had 7 kills, 4 digs and her first multiblock match.
 
FEELIN' BLUE: The Seawolves' lone senior and Preseason All-GNAC pick, OH Nicole Blue has lived up to the hype, ranking top-4 in the GNAC in points per set (2nd, 4.02), kills per set (4th, 3.33 kps) and aces (4th, 0.47), plus 19th in digs (2.64) ... the team's most experienced all-rotation player, Blue has 11 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 26 of 32 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 (0.47) since 25-point rally scoring took effect in 2008 ... she is also just two aces shy of tying O'Lita McWilliams's single-season program record of 59 in 2003 ... Blue recently moved into the top 20 on UAA's career list for kills (18th, 765) and points (19th, 931), while her 71 career victories are tied for 16th on the program's all-time list.
 
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 3.29 kills and 1.89 blocks per set ... 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 13 kills in the 3-1 win over Saint Martin's ... Evans currently ranks 6th in the GNAC with 1.07 blocks per set, and Elder is 17th with 0.831bps ... on UAA's career lists, Evans ranks 11th with 1.06 bps and 16th with 197 block assists.
 
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 6.23 digs per set and a .930 reception percentage ... currently 10th in the GNAC stats with 3.39 dps, Plumhoff collected Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament honors in September and was the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts against Western Oregon and Saint Martin's (5.00 dps, 0.88 ace/set in two wins) in November ... Plumhoff posted a career-high 23 digs in the 5-set win at Western Oregon and had 21 in the rematch with the Wolves ... the former Dimond High standout also had 4 aces to key the win over Florida Tech and 5 in the win over Saint Martin's, and now stands top 20 on UAA's career lists for aces (12th, 113), aces per set (15th, 0.308) and victories (18th, 67) ... meanwhile, Galloway has recorded double-digit digs in 16 matches, topping out with a career-high 21 digs to key the 3-1 victory over Northwest Nazarene, and posting 15 and 14 in the home wins over WOU and SMU ... Galloway ranks 16th in the GNAC with 2.81 dps, while the Floridian owns a team-best .938 serve reception rate.
 
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 5.70 assists per set (8th in GNAC), while also managing 2.14 digs per set ... although not a huge attacker, Eleneki has made the most of her opportunities, collecting 38 kills on just 84 attacks for a team-best .357 hitting pct. ... one of three former local Dimond High stars on the roster, Osborne is posting 4.75 aps, a .357 hitting pct., and solid blocking numbers of 0.42 in a primarily '6-2' rotation ... Osborne has dished at least 20 assists on 11 occasions and registered multiple kills in 18 of her 31 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 17 of her first 31 matches ... UAA's second-leading kills producer with 2.54 kps (13th GNAC), she started her home career with 14 kills on .355 hitting to power the win over Upper Iowa, and recorded 13 in each of the 3-1 home victories over Western Oregon and Saint Martin's ... the Battle Ground, Wash., native captured GNAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for her performance in Arkansas in September, 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: The Seawolves' loss at Central Washington last week ended hopes for the program's 16th consecutive winning season, while the string of winning GNAC records will end at 14 seasons ... the GNAC champions in 2022, UAA has also seen a streak of 14 straight top-4 GNAC finishes come to an end ... the Seawolves are 101-24 at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 148-36 at home since 2009 ... 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 ... with the loss to SPU last week, the Seawolves are now 25-22 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
GNAC All-Academic Team
LEILANI ELDER
Reddie-Tiger Invitational All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
MAKANA ELENEKI
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
GNAC All-Academic Team
MADISON GALLOWAY
GNAC All-Academic Team (4.00 GPA)
REILLY PLUMHOFF
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, Oct. 30-Nov. 5
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
GNAC All-Academic Team
BETHANY TUCHARDT
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 11-17
Reddie-Tiger Invitational All-Tournament Team