THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thursday, Oct. 24 — 6 pm ADT — New P.E. Building — Monmouth, Ore.
Alaska Anchorage (10-9, 4-5 GNAC) at Western Oregon (12-6, 4-5 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Oct. 24 — Noon ADT — Marcus Pavilion — Lacey, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage at Saint Martin's (5-12, 3-6 GNAC [Thu. vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: Thursday — youtube.com/watch?v=mSgzgoQGJnU
                      Saturday — youtube.com/@SMUAthleticsYT
LIVE STATS: Thursday — WOUwolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball
                       Saturday — SMUsaints.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024 stats)
S—Kadyn Osborne, 5-10, Sr. (5.01 aps, 2.24 dps, 0.38 ace/set)
RS—Larssen Anderson, 6-0, Jr. (2.09 kps, .220 att%, 0.47 bps)
OH—Katie Birtcil, 6-0, Sr. (2.16 kps, .125 att%, 2.97 dps, 0.37 ace/set)
OH—Tia Allen, 5-11, Jr. (2.24 kps, .208 att%, 2.93 dps)
OH—Bethany Tuchardt, 6-2, Sr. (2.21 kps, .238 att%, 0.58 bps)
MB—Leilani Elder, 5-10, Sr. (1.44 kps, .184 att%, 1.09 bps)
L—Madison Galloway, 5-4, Jr. (3.92 dps, 1.04 aps, .944 rec%)
 
SECOND HALF GETS UNDER WAY: The Alaska Anchorage volleyball team begins the second half of the 18-match Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule this week with road contests against Western Oregon and Saint Martin's ... the Seawolves and Thursday's opponent, WOU, are currently tied for fifth in the league standings.
 
THE SERIES...
vs WOU: UAA leads 32-16 overall, 14-8 in Monmouth
Last: WOU 3-1 (9/28/24 at UAA) / Streak: WOU 1
Notes: WOU's victory in Anchorage last month snapped UAA's 21-match winning streak in the series ... UAA has won 10 straight in Monmouth since WOU took the 2012 meeting in three sets ... UAA leads 30-15 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) ... series started in 1981 but teams did not play again until 1999.
 
vs SMU: UAA leads 43-5 overall, 20-4 in Lacey/Olympia
Last: UAA 3-1 (9/26/24 at UAA) / Streak: UAA 2
Notes: Last year's 3-1 loss in Lacey snapped win streaks of 29 overall and 15 on the road against the Saints ... the Seawolves have won 94 of 108 sets since 2008 ... teams have only played one 5-setter (2021 at SMU) in 48 meetings ... UAA leads 40-5 in GNAC matches (since 2001) ... teams played first two matches as Pac West Conference opponents in 1998 and 1999.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Western Oregon comes into Thursday's match in a three-way tie for fifth in the GNAC standings, having won two of its last three contests ... the Wolves are led by Madison Hornback (3.08 kps, .203 att%, 2.18 dps) and Bailee Hartsook (2.40 kps, .234 att%, 0.45 ace/set) ... Saint Martin's has gone 1-4 in October as it prepares for a Thursday contest against Alaska Fairbanks ... currently tied for eighth in the GNAC, the Saints are led by Emmy Hansen (2.58 kps, .186 att%, 2.17 dps) and Emily Garten (2.48 kps, .118 att%, 0.61 ace/set, 2.62 dps).
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves got off to a fast start but could not finish as host Alaska Fairbanks took the GNAC midseason finale 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-19 on Thursday ... Sr. OH Katie Birtcil had 10 kills, including set point in the opening frame, while Jr. OH Tia Allen produced 9 kills, 9 digs and 4 total blocks.
 
TEAM NOTES: UAA is no lower than 6th in all seven of the GNAC's major stats categories, including second in aces (1.94) and digs (16.04) per set ... 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 104-26 (.800) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 151-38 (.799) at home since 2009.
 
'WOLF BITES: 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 (11th, 244) and total blocks (14th, 275) ... Elder tied her career high with 11 kills on .400 hitting to key the victory over Augustana, and currently ranks 5th in the GNAC with 1.09 bps ... Jr. L Madison Galloway ranks 6th in the GNAC with 3.92 digs per set, producing double figures in 17 of 19 matches ... Galloway is trying to become the first Seawolf since Taylor Noga in 2018 to average at least 4.00 dps ... Jr. OH Tia Allen leads UAA with six double-doubles, including a 15-kills/14-dig effort to lead the win over Slippery Rock ... Allen ranks 13th in the GNAC with 2.93 dps ... after missing the majority of last season with a wrist injury and redshirting, Jr. RS Larssen Anderson has made a solid return, earning GNAC Offensive Player of the Week for her effort in Hawaii .... the former Dimond High star has hit better than .300 in seven matches thus far, including a .357 effort for a career-high 14 kills in the win at Augustana and .450 at MSUB ... Sr. S Kadyn Osborne ranks 10th in the league with 5.04 assists per set, sharing time with Fr. S Hannah Trotter in UAA's 6-2 offensive system ... Osborne also ranks 13th with 0.38 aces per set, having tied the third-best UAA's single-match total with 6 aces in a sweep of UNC Pembroke ... Trotter (11th, 0.39) and Sr. OH Katie Birtcil (14th, 0.37) give UAA three of the top 15 in the GNAC aces stats ... a grad transfer from New Mexico State, Birtcil has five double-doubles thus far, spearheading the 3-1 win over Saint Martin's with 12 kills and 15 digs ... with 10 kills against UAF, Birtcil topped the career 1,000 mark in her time at NMSU and UAA, entering this week with 1,007 ... other Seawolves among the GNAC stats leaders include Birtcil at 12th in digs (2.97 dps), Sr. OH Bethany Tuchardt at 16th in attack pct. (.238) and So. MB Bella Burney at 19th in attack pct. (.232).
 
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