THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Seawolf Invitational – Alaska Airlines Ctr. – Anchorage, Alaska
(all times Alaska Daylight Time)
Thursday, Aug. 31
1 pm: Cal Poly Humboldt (0-0) vs Upper Iowa (0-0)
4 pm: Alaska Fairbanks (1-3) vs #7 St. Cloud State (0-0)
7 pm: Upper Iowa vs #14 Alaska Anchorage (1-3)
Friday, Sept. 1
9 am: Alaska Fairbanks vs Cal Poly Humboldt
11:30 am: Florida Tech (0-0) vs #7 St. Cloud State
2 pm: Upper Iowa vs Alaska Fairbanks
4:30 pm: Florida Tech vs Cal Poly Humboldt
7 pm: #7 St. Cloud State vs #14 Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, Sept. 2
9 am: Florida Tech vs Alaska Fairbanks
11:30 am: #7 St. Cloud State vs Upper Iowa
2 pm: Cal Poly Humboldt vs #14 Alaska Anchorage
7 pm: Florida Tech vs #14 Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: All matches at youtube.com/UAASeawolves
LIVE STATS: All matches at GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
2023 SEASON PREVIEW: Led by first-year head coach Stacie Meisner, the Seawolves return three starters and three other key letterwinners from last year's GNAC title club ... OH Nicole Blue (1.80 kps, .187 att%, 0.40 bps) is the team's lone senior and Preseason All-GNAC honoree, while both starting middles are back in juniors Leilani Elder (1.30 kps, .281, .099 bps) and Isabel Evans (1.11 kps, .274, 1.04 bps), who each finished among the league's top 11 in blocking ... Jr. S Makana Eleneki is back for her fifth season with the program and ready to battle with a pair of newcomers for setter duties, while Jr. DS/L Reilly Plumhoff and So. DS/L Madison Galloway should give UAA one of the West Region's top back-row tandems ... nine of the 11 newcomers begin the season on the active roster, with several sure to play major roles.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023 stats)
S—Makana Eleneki, 5-6, Jr. (0.63 kps, .381 att%, 8.25 aps, 2.50 dps)
RS—Larssen Anderson, 6-0, Jr. (2.38 kps, .214 att%, 0.44 bps)
OH—Bethany Tuchardt, 6-2, So. (2.88 kps, .224 att%, 0.50 bps)
OH—Nicole Blue, 5-9, Sr. (3.50 kps, .255 att%, 3.75 dps, 0.56 ace/set)
MB—Isabel Evans, 6-3, Jr. (1.44 kps, .263 att%, 1.00 dps, 0.81 bps)
MB—Leilani Elder, 5-10, Jr. (1.13 kps, .082 att%, 0.69 bps)
L—Reilly Plumhoff, 5-5, Jr. (3.06 dps, 0.94 aps)
 
THE SERIES...
vs Upper Iowa and Florida Tech: First meetings
 
vs St. Cloud State: UAA leads 2-1 overall, 0-0 in Anch.
Streak: UAA 2
Last: UAA 3-1 (8/25/00 at Winona, Minn.)
Notes: Friday's meeting marks the first between the programs since the rally-scoring era began in 2001 ... the first three meetings were all on neutral courts ... first meeting was a 2-0 SCSU win in 1983 in Duluth, Minn.
 
vs Cal Poly Humboldt: UAA leads 9-3 overall, 5-1 at UAA
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 3-2 (9/4/10 at Monmouth, Ore.)
Notes: This is just the second meeting between the teams since Humboldt left the original GNAC membership following the 2005 season ... teams met 10 times as GNAC foes, with UAA going 7-3 ... Humboldt won 3-0 on its last trip to Anchorage, Sept. 29, 2005 ... first meeting was a 3-0 UAA home win, Oct. 16, 1999.
 
EARLY OPENERS UP NORTH: The Seawolves and three other West Region squads played the first NCAA Div. II matches of the 2023 season last week in Fairbanks, with UAA posting a 1-3 mark against Chaminade and Hawaii Hilo ... Sr. OH Nicole Blue captured GNAC Offensive Player of the Week honors after averaging 3.50 kps on .255 hitting, 0.56 aces per set and 3.75 dps, and posting the first three double-doubles in her four-year career ... Blue paced the Seawolves with 15 kills and a career-high 23 digs in Saturday's 3-2 win over Hilo, while Jr. S Makana Eleneki had 39 assists and a career-high 15 digs in the victory, joining Blue on the all-tournament team.
 
STROLLIN' THE POLLS: After cracking the rankings for the final 13 polls of 2022, UAA starts at No. 14 in the 2023 preseason AVCA Div. II Top 25 poll ... UAA's No. 10 final ranking in 2022 was second-best in program history behind the 2016 team's No. 3 spot, while the No. 4 ranking in the Nov. 14, 2022 poll was UAA's highest ever in the regular season ... UAA is one of two GNAC teams in the preseason top 25, along with No. 15 Western Washington, while GNAC teams Central Washington and Seattle Pacific are each receiving votes.
 
2023 AVCA NCAA Div. II Top 25 Coaches Poll - Aug. 22
Rk School [1st-Pl. Votes]   2022  Pts.
 1 West Texas A&M [42]      33-4  1139
 2 Concordia-St. Paul [5]   31-6  1096
 3 MSU Denver               30-2   988
 4 Wayne State (Neb.)       30-3   912
 5 Tampa                    29-4   904
 6 Barry                    28-6   815
 7 St. Cloud State          28-6   800
 8 Minnesota Duluth         27-5   780
 9 Cal State LA             25-7   732
10 Missouri-St. Louis       25-7   668
14 Alaska Anchorage         27-3   505
15 Western Washington       21-6   487
19 Cal State San Bernardino 20-7   320
23 Cal Poly Pomona          24-6   163
West Region Teams Receiving Votes: 26) Chaminade 112; 32) Central Washington 61; 47) Point Loma 7; t48) Sonoma State 5; 50) Seattle Pacific 3 ... complete poll at avca.org.
 
2022 SEASON RECAP: UAA produced one of the most memorable seasons in program history in 2022, winning the GNAC title, posting and 27-3 record and finishing No. 10 in the final NCAA Div. II national poll ... led by National Player of the Year Eve Stephens and fellow senior All-American Ellen Floyd, UAA went 17-1 in league play, sweeping arch rival Western Washington and finishing the year with  a victory over Central Washington in front of the largest regular-season crowd in D2 Volleyball history.
 
GNAC CHAMPS: The Seawolves earned the program's fourth GNAC title – all outright – with a 17-1 league record in 2022 ... UAA took both meetings against arch rival Western Washington and earned the championship by just one match over the Vikings, clinching with road sweeps of Western Oregon and Saint Martin's on the final week of the regular season ... UAA's other titles came in 2009, 2015 and 2016, when the Seawolves advanced all the way to the NCAA Div. II National Title Match ... last year marked the sixth league title in program history, along with the Continental Divide Conference crown in 1990 and a shared Pac West Conference title in 1992.
 
UAA NCAA HISTORY: UAA made its eighth NCAA appearance in nine seasons and 11th in the last 13 seasons (not including the 2020 pandemic year) in 2022 ... last year marked UAA's 13th overall NCAA Tournament trip (1989, 1990, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021), with its overall record now at 8-13 … the Seawolves earned their deepest by making the 2016 National Title Match and winning multiple matches for the first time that year ... the Seawolves are 4-9 all-time in the opening round after their 5-set upset loss to Chaminade in 2022.
 
RETURNERS READY: Sr. OH Nicole Blue showed marked improvement in her third season, ripping at least five kills in 22 of 30 matches and hitting at least .300 on nine occasions in 2022 ... the 2023 Preseason All-GNAC pick had the first-, second- and fourth-most kills of her career last week with 18 in the opener, 19 in the second match and 15 in the finale against Hilo ... Jr. MB Leilani Elder tallied four or more kills in 18 or her last 23 appearances and multiple blocks in 23 of 26 overall outings as a sophomore, topping out with career highs of 8 kills at Northwest Nazarene and 11 points (7K/3BS/2BA) against UAF ... a contributor since her true freshman campaign, Elder ranked 11th in the GNAC with 0.99 blocks per set last year ... Jr. MB Isabel Evans finished 8th in the GNAC with 1.04 blocks per set in 2023 ... the transfer from Williston State (N.D.), Evans had 7 block assists at Central Washington and against Seattle Pacific, and she hit .400 or better on eight occasions, including a UAA season-high .714 (10-1-14) against Florida Southern ... Jr. DS/L Reilly Plumhoff registered 18 aces over the last 11 matches in 2022, giving her 11 multi-ace performances and ranking 9th in the league with 0.37 per set ... the local Dimond High product produced at least six digs in 14 matches, including a season-high 10 in the home sweep of Western Washington and the 4-set home win over NNU ... Plumhoff is the lone current Seawolf to rank top 20 in any career stats category, standing 13th with 0.312 aces per set and tied for 19th with 55 victories ... either Plumhoff or So. DS/L Madison Galloway are likely to don the libero jersey this season ... despite starting her collegiate career as a 17-year-old, Galloway ranked fourth on UAA with 1.84 digs per set in 2022 and recorded the team's best reception percentage at .956 (350 of 366) ... the Floridian registered seven matches with double-digit digs and also posted UAA's second-best service pct. at .932.
 
THE NEXT LEVEL: Five of UAA's nine active newcomers are junior college transfers ... Jr. OH Bethany Tuchardt was an NJCAA Second Team All-American and the NWAC West Region MVP as a sophomore ... Tuchardt (pronounced TOO-hart) led the 32-team NWAC with a .346 attack pct. and was second with 3.94 kps in 2002, leading Highline College to a 23-6 record ... another Highline transfer, Jr. MB Dijah Morgan returns home after posting 2.25 kps and 0.78 bps last year alongside Tuchardt ... the former East High T-bird was also a First Team All-NWAC West honoree ... teammates in high school (Dimond) and junior college (Eastern Arizona), Jr. OH/RS Larssen Anderson and Jr. S Kadyn Osborne continue their pattern with the Seawolves ... Anderson averaged 2.15 kps and 0.52 bps in 56 career matches at EAC, while Osborne racked up over 1,300 assists and nearly 500 digs in her two years, earning All-ACCAC Second Team honors last year ... So. MB Jada Schultz is another Arizona JC (Yavapai College) and local product (Wasilla) looking to make an impact.
 
FEELING FRESH: UAA welcomes four true freshmen to the fold, including exciting front-row prospects Bella Burney (Tumwater, Wash.) and Trinity Tatupu (Wahiawa, Hawaii) ... Wisconsin native Hannah Trotter could make an early impact at setter, while Ketchikan native Reilly McCue joins the back row and gives UAA seven Alaskans on the roster.
 
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.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves' 2.38 aces per set and .270 team attack percentage in 2022 ranked 7th and 8th, respectively, in the NCAA Div. II national stats ... at 27-3, the 2022 Seawolves tied the 2015 team for the fewest losses and second-most wins in program history ... the Seawolves' 13-0 home record was their first perfect mark since moving into the Alaska Airlines Center in 2014 and the program's first since going 14-0 at the UAA Sports Complex in 1989 ... the Seawolves claimed their 15th consecutive winning season, 13th straight winning conference record and 13th straight top-4 GNAC finish in 2022 ... the Seawolves have won a record 15 straight matches at the Alaska Airlines Center, improving to 94-19 (.832) since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014 and 141-31 (.820) at home since 2009 ... with a 3-0 mark last year, the Seawolves improved to 25-18 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014.
 
FOR THE RECORD: The Seawolves set or tied 17 school records in 2022, with season marks for fewest losses (3) and highest hitting percentage (.270) among their four team records ... Eve Stephens and Ellen Floyd combined to capture 13 individual school records (see complete list at end of release), along with GNAC career records for points (Stephens, 2,293), kills (Stephens, 1,926), aces (Floyd, 213) and sets played (Floyd 495).
 
HOT TICKET: The Seawolves continued to be one of the hottest draws in town as they averaged 1,051 fans in 2022, boosted by an NCAA Div. II regular-season record 3,888 figure for the season finale against Central Washington on Nov. 5 ... UAA finished No. 3 in the NCAA Div. II attendance standings, continuing a streak of eight straight years among the nation's top six; the Seawolves were No. 1 in D-II attendance each year from 2015-18.
 
2023 Individual Honors
NICOLE BLUE
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Aug. 21-27
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
MAKANA ELENEKI
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team