THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thursday, Oct. 3 — 5 pm ADT — Alterowitz Gymnasium — Billings, MT
Alaska Anchorage (7-7, 1-3 GNAC) at Montana State Billings (6-6, 0-3 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Oct. 5 — 1 pm ADT — Brougham Pavilion — Seattle, WA
Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific (1-10, 1-2 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday – youtube.com/watch?v=gFLjuOyW_-E
                       Saturday – youtube.com/watch?v=qCV-daUrotg
 
LIVE STATS: Thursday – msubsports.com/sidearmstats/wvball
                       Saturday – spufalcons.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024 stats)
S—Kadyn Osborne, 5-10, Sr. (4.91 aps, 2.11 dps, 0.45 ace/set)
RS—Larssen Anderson, 6-0, Jr. (2.09 kps, .228 att%, 0.27 ace/set, 0.44 bps)
OH—Katie Birtcil-Tipton, 6-0, Sr. (1.98 kps, .116 att%, 2.71 dps, 0.41 ace/set)
OH—Tia Allen, 5-11, Jr. (2.17 kps, .188 att%, 2.72 dps)
OH—Bethany Tuchardt, 6-2, Sr. (2.15 kps, .213 att%, 0.53 bps)
MB—Leilani Elder, 5-10, Sr. (1.35 kps, .177 att%, 0.98 bps)
L—Madison Galloway, 5-4, Jr. (3.87 dps, 0.89 aps, .9378 rec%)
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: After finally getting their home openers in last week, the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team returns to the road this week for Great Northwest Athletic Conference matches at Montana State Billings (Thur., 5 pm ADT) and Seattle Pacific (Sat., 1 pm ADT).
 
THE SERIES...
vs MSUB: UAA leads 57-11 overall, 27-6 in Billings
Last: UAA 3-0 (10/28/23 at MSUB) / Streak: UAA 10
Notes: The Seawolves have won 25 of the past 26 meetings, including six straight sweeps since the pandemic ... UAA has won 13 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 26-6 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.
 
vs SPU: UAA leads 33-32 overall, tied 16-16 in Seattle
Last: SPU 3-1 (10/26/23 at SPU) / Streak: SPU 2
Notes: SPU swept last year's season series for the first time since 2006, winning both by a 3-1 score ... SPU has won three of the last five after UAA took 16 of 17 between 2013-21 ... the Seawolves have won 11 of the last 13 meetings in Seattle ... UAA leads 27-17 in GNAC matches (since 2001) ... first meetings came in 1991 as members of the Pac West.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Picked last in the GNAC preseason poll, Montana State Billings is the last team hunting its first league victory ... the Yellowjackets, who started the year 3-0, are led by pin hitters Jordin Taulua (3.42 kps, .138 att%, 2.51 dps, 0.49 bps) and Jahsita Fa'ali'i (3.28 kps, .125 att%, 3.02 dps) ... defending GNAC champion Seattle Pacific got off to an 0-8 start against a powerhouse schedule, before claiming its lone win Sept. 21 at MSUB ... the Falcons are led by Sydney Perry (2.30 kps, .175 att%, 1.23 dps) and GNAC Preseason Player of the Year Hannah Hair (1.64 kps, .305 att%, 1.45 bps).
 
HOME-OPENING SPLIT: The Seawolves forged a split of their home-opening series last week, defeating Saint Martin's 25-21, 25-15, 22-25, 25-15 on Thursday, and falling 25-20, 27-25, 23-25, 25-22 on Saturday ... in the first match, Sr. OH Katie Birtcil-Tipton delivered 12 kills and 15 digs, while Fr. S Hannah Trotter had a career-best effort with 26 assists, 11 digs, 3 aces, 2 kills and no errors of any kind ... Jr. OH Tia Allen added 7 kills and 17 digs against her former team, while Sr. OH Bethany Tuchardt, Sr. MB Leilani Elder and So. MB/RS Bella Burney had 9 kills apiece ... on Saturday, Allen's 12 kills and 13 digs were not enough to overcome a .228 to .141 hitting disadvantage against the Wolves, who snapped a 21-match losing skid in the series ... Tuchardt had 11 kills, Burney came one shy of her career high with 10 kills, and Birtcil-Tipton made a UAA career-best 21 digs.
 
'WOLF BITES: After missing the majority of last season with a wrist injury and taking a redshirt, Jr. RS Larssen Anderson has made a solid return, earning GNAC Offensive Player of the Week for her effort in Hawaii and currently ranking 17th in the league with a .228 attack pct. .... the former Dimond High star has hit better than .300 in five matches thus far, including a .357 effort for a career-high 14 kills in the win at Augustana ... Sr. MB Leilani Elder is back for her final campaign as the Seawolves' lone fourth-year senior in 2024 ... the Kansas City native recently broke into UAA's career top 15 in both block assists (14th, 220) and total blocks (14th, 249) ... Elder tied her career high with 11 kills on .400 hitting to key the victory over Augustana, and currently ranks 7th in the GNAC with 0.98 bps ... Jr. L Madison Galloway ranks 5th in the GNAC with 3.87 digs per set, producing double figures in 10 of 12 matches ... Galloway recorded 5.20 dps as UAA went 3-0 in Fairbanks three weeks ago, collecting a career-high 26 digs to spearhead the win over Slippery Rock ... Jr. OH Tia Allen leads UAA with four double-doubles, producing her best week with 2.80 kps on .254 hitting and 2.70 dps at the Ice Block Classic ... Allen ranks 14th in the GNAC with 2.72 dps ... Sr. S Kadyn Osborne ranks 10th in the league with 4.91 assists per set, sharing time with Fr. S Hannah Trotter in UAA's 6-2 offensive system ... Osborne also ranks 8th with 0.45 aces per set after her 6 aces against UNC Pembroke tied for third-best on UAA's single-match list ... Trotter (11th, 0.41) and Sr. OH Katie Birtcil-Tipton (12th, 0.40) give UAA three of the top 12 in the GNAC aces stats ... a grad transfer from New Mexico State, Birtcil-Tipton has three double-doubles thus far, spearheading the 3-1 win over Saint Martin's with 12 kills and 15 digs ... So. MB/RS Bella Burney collected 19 kills in UAA's home openers last week, moving her up to 14th in the GNAC with a .241 attack pct.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA ranks third the GNAC with a .176 opponent attack percentage, having held four opponents under .100 ... UAA is no lower than 6th in all seven of the GNAC's major stats categories ... the Seawolves tied a program mark by not allowing any blocks against UNC Pembroke, while the 19 digs allowed against Felician were UAA's second-fewest since 2019 ... the Seawolves are 25-23 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, now with a six-match losing skid after their loss to Chaminade ... the Seawolves are 103-25 (.805) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 150-37 (.802) at home since 2009.
 
EYES ON MEISNER: After six seasons as the program's top assistant, former Seawolf standout Stacie Meisner returns for her second turn as UAA's head coach in 2024 ... 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.
 
2024 Individual Honors
TIA ALLEN
Augustana Classic All-Tournament Team
LARSSEN ANDERSON
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Aug. 25-31
MADISON GALLOWAY
Augustana Classic All-Tournament Team
KADYN OSBORNE
Augustana Classic All-Tournament Team
BETHANY TUCHARDT
Ice Block Classic All-Tournament Team