THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thu., Aug. 29 — McCabe Gymnasium — Honolulu, HI — 2 pm ADT
Alaska Anchorage (0-0, 0-0 GNAC) at #12 Chaminade (0-0, 0-0 Pac West)
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Thu., Aug. 29 — The Shark Tank — Honolulu, HI — 8 pm ADT
Alaska Anchorage at Hawaii Pacific (0-0, 0-0 Pac West)
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Fri., Aug. 30 — The Shark Tank — Honolulu, HI — 8 pm ADT
Alaska Anchorage vs Hawaii Hilo (0-0 [8/29 vs UAF])
 
LIVE VIDEO: All matches will be pay-per-view ... find active links on match days at GoSeawolves.com.
 
LIVE STATS: at Chaminade — goswords.com/sidearmstats/wvball
                       at HPU/vs UHH — hpusharks.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2023 stats/notes)
S—Kadyn Osborne, 5-10, Sr. (0.49 kps, .231 att%, 4.71 aps, 0.96 dps, 0.44 bps)
RS—Larssen Anderson, 5-11, Jr. (2.26 kps, .174 att%, 0.42 bps in 8 matches, medical redshirt)
OH—Katie Birtcil-Tipton, 6-0, Sr. (3.07 kps, .160 att%, 1.86 dps in 2022 at NMSU/2-time All-WAC)
OH—Tia Allen, 5-11, Jr. (3.23 kps, .150 att%, 2.86 dps at St. Martin's in 2022/HM All-GNAC)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, So. (1.61 kps, .163 att%, 0.63 bps)
MB—Leilani Elder, 5-10, Sr. (1.55 kps, .196 att%, 0.82 bps)
L—Madison Galloway, 5-4, Jr. (2.84 dps, 0.21 ace/set, 0.44 asst/set)
 
2024 PREVIEW: Picked fifth of 10 teams in the GNAC preseason coaches' poll, UAA returns six letterwinners and four redshirts from last year's squad that went 16-17 overall and placed sixth in the league at 8-10 ... the Seawolves feature four seniors, including returning full- or part-time starters Leilani Elder (1.55 kps, .196 att%, 0.82 bps) in the middle, Bethany Tuchardt (2.53 kps, .179 att%, 0.56 bps) on the outside and Kadyn Osborne (4.71 aps, 0.44 bps) at setter ... back-row juniors Madison Galloway (2.84 dps) and Sydney Johnson (1.64 dps, 0.37 ace/set) give UAA a solid defensive platform, while junior pin hitters Larssen Anderson (2.26 kps, .174 att% prior to injury) and Tia Allen (3.23 kps, .150 att%, 2.86 dps at St. Martin's in 2022) will be major contributors after redshirting in 2023 ... versatile MB/RS Bella Burney (1.61 kps, .163, 0.63 bps) returns after drawing 22 starting assignments as a rookie, while New Mexico State grad transfer Katie Birtcil-Tipton (two-time All-WAC) leads a group of four talented newcomers.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Perhaps UAA's most fierce non-conference rival, Chaminade starts 2024 with a No. 12 national ranking and as the Pacific West Conference preseason co-favorite ... the Silverswords went 30-4 overall/17-3 PWC in 2023, making the NCAA Tournament Second Round ... Hawaii-Hilo is picked sixth in the 14-team league after going 12-16/9-11 a year ago, while Hawaii Pacific is picked 11th, coming off a 5-19/5-15 campaign.
 
THE SERIES...
vs Chaminade: Chaminade leads 17-14 overall, 8-6 in HNL
Streak: Chaminade 3
Last: Chaminade 3-0 (8/26/23 at UAF)
Notes: With 31 meetings, Chaminade is UAA's most common non-GNAC opponent ... this marks the fifth year in a row the teams will play each other ... Chaminade took 3-1 and 3-0 decision over UAA last season in Fairbanks ... Chaminade won last meeting in Hawaii, 3-0, on Aug. 20, 2022 ... series started in 1989.
 
vs HPU: HPU leads 8-6 overall, 6-4 in HNL
Streak: UAA 3
Last: UAA 3-0 (8/19/22 at HPU)
Notes: The last nine meetings (since 2000) have all been in Hawaii, including seven true road matches ... UAA has won six of the last seven meetings (since 2009) ... series started in 1981.
 
vs UH Hilo: UHH leads 15-11 overall, 3-3 neutral court
Streak: UAA 1
Last: UAA 3-2 (8/26/23 at UAF)
Notes: This marks the teams' sixth meeting since April 2021  and the fourth straight neutral-court match ... teams split two matches last season in Fairbanks ... series started in 1981.
 
ELDER STATESWOMAN: Sr. MB Leilani Elder returns for her final campaign as the Seawolves' lone fourth-year senior in 2024 ... the Kansas City native brings career totals of 315 kills on .223 hitting and 199 total blocks into the season, ranking just outside UAA's top 20 in hitting percentage and blocks ... as a sophomore in 2022, Elder hit .281 and produced 1.30 kps for UAA's GNAC title team that finished No. 10 in the national rankings.
 
BACK-ROW VETS: UAA's most experienced position group is the back-row combo of Jr. L Madison Galloway and Jr. DS Sydney Johnson, who bring a combined five years of experience in the program ... Galloway recorded double-digit digs in 18 matches playing primarily DS last year, ranking 15th in the GNAC with 2.84 dps ... the Floridian also led UAA with a .947 serve percentage in 488 attempts and was second on the team in reception percentage (.935) by just .001 ... meanwhile, Johnson contributed to NCAA Tournament squads in 2021 and 2022 (as a redshirt) mainly thanks to her serving skills, and looks to expand her DS role further in 2024 ... playing in all 29 matches last year prior to a late-season injury, Johnson contributed 1.64 digs and 0.37 aces per set, highlighted by a six-ace outing against MSU Billings.
 
NEVER TOO MUCH TUCHARDT: UAA's lone pin hitter with at least one full season in a Seawolf uniform, Sr. OH Bethany Tuchardt (pronounced TOO-hart) started her NCAA career with double-digit kills in 17 matches last year ... the Washington native ranked second on the team and 14th in the GNAC with 2.53 kills and 2.84 points per set, and had UAA's fourth-most blocks per set at 0.56.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves are 25-22 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, trying to halt a five-match losing skid against ranked foes when they meet No. 12 Chaminade on Thursday ... UAA's 2024 records of 16-17 overall and 8-10 GNAC came agonizing close, but the program's strings of 15 straight winning seasons and 14 straight winning conference records were halted in 2023 ... the GNAC champions in 2022, UAA also saw a streak of 14 straight top-4 GNAC finishes come to an end ... the Seawolves are 102-24 (.810) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 149-36 (.800) 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.
 
2023 Individual Honors
(returnees only)
LEILANI ELDER
Reddie-Tiger Invitational All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
MADISON GALLOWAY
CSC Academic All-District Team
GNAC All-Academic Team (4.00 GPA)
BETHANY TUCHARDT
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 11-17
Reddie-Tiger Invitational All-Tournament Team