THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
at Denali Bank Ice Block Classic — Patty Center — Fairbanks, AK
Thursday, Sept. 12
11 am: Alaska Anchorage (3-4) vs Felician (2-1, one match pending)
Friday, Sept. 13
11 am: Alaska Anchorage vs Slippery Rock (3-1, one match pending)
Saturday, Sept. 14
11 am: Alaska Anchorage vs UNC Pembroke (1-2, two matches pending)
 
LIVE VIDEO: youtube.com/@thealaskananooks
LIVE STATS: alaskananooks.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024 stats)
S—Kadyn Osborne, 5-10, Sr. (4.67 aps, 1.81 dps, 0.33 ace/set)
RS—Larssen Anderson, 6-0, Jr. (2.19 kps, .263 att%, 0.41 ace/set, 0.48 bps)
OH—Katie Birtcil-Tipton, 6-0, Sr. (1.85 kps, .112 att%, 2.27 dps)
OH—Tia Allen, 5-11, Jr. (1.85 kps, .162 att%, 2.44 dps)
OH—Bethany Tuchardt, 6-2, Sr. (2.22 kps, .193 att%, 0.63 bps)
MB—Leilani Elder, 5-10, Sr. (1.28 kps, .151 att%, 1.04 bps)
L—Madison Galloway, 5-4, Jr. (3.26 dps, 0.81 aps)
 
WEEKEND PREVIEW: Coming off a 2-2 record at the Augustana Classic, the Seawolves look to close the non-conference season strong this week with three matches in three days at the Denali Bank Ice Block Classic in Fairbanks ... UAA will play three first-time opponents from the East Coast, facing Felician (N.J.), Slippery Rock (Pa.) and North Carolina Pembroke.
 
SOUTH DAKOTA SPLIT: The Seawolves went 2-2 last week against quality opponents at the Augustana Classic ... returning to Sioux Falls for the first time since reaching the national title match in 2016, UAA opened with an impressive 25-22, 25-14, 25-23 sweep of Northwest Missouri State, getting 10 kills on .412 hitting and 5 block assists from Sr. OH Bethany Tuchardt … Jr. OH Tia Allen had 8 kills on .350 hitting and Sr. S Kadyn Osborne dished 16 assists with 2 aces as UAA held the Bearcats to .083 hitting … in the second match, three Seawolves notched 10 kills apiece and Jr. MB Avery Northcutt had a breakout performance with 8 kills on .727 hitting, but the Seawolves fell short against South Dakota Mines, losing 15-10 in the fifth set … following a straight-sets loss to Northern State on Saturday morning, the Seawolves finished strong by downing host Augustana 25-17, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18, getting career highs of 14 kills (.357 att%) from Jr. RS Larssen Anderson and 11 kills (.400) from Sr. MB Leilani Elder … Tuchardt had 9 kills and 5 total blocks in the finale, while Northcutt was in on six of UAA's season-high 11 blocks.
 
RED-HOT RETURN: 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 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week for her effort in Hawaii and currently ranking 9th in the league with a .263 attack pct. ... the Anchorage native averaged 2.17 kills and 2.92 points per set on .380 hitting in UAA's three matches at the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge in Honolulu, powering a 3-1 victory over Hawaii Pacific with 10 kills on career-best .533 hitting and two aces ... Anderson has hit better than .350 in three matches thus far, including a .357 effort for a career-high 14 kills in the win at Augustana.
 
ELDER STATESWOMAN: Sr. MB Leilani Elder is back for her final campaign as the Seawolves' lone fourth-year senior in 2024 ... the Kansas City native broke into UAA's career top 20 last week in both block assists (200) and total blocks (225), currently 17th on both lists ... she is also No. 25 on the Seawolves' hitting percentage list at .223 ... Elder stepped up last week as well with 11 kills on .400 hitting to key the victory over Augustana and equal her career-high kills total for the third time ... she is currently 6th in the early GNAC rankings with 1.04 blocks per set ... 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.
 
MORE 'WOLF BITES: Jr. L Madison Galloway ranks 8th in the GNAC with 3.26 digs per set, producing double figures in six of seven matches ... after a quiet opening week, Jr. MB Avery Northcutt came on strong last week and now ranks 2nd in the early GNAC stats with a .400 hitting pct. ... a former East High star making her Seawolf debut this year, Northcutt's .727 (8-0-11) hitting effort against South Dakota Mines ranked 8th-best on UAA's single-match list (min. 10 att.) since rally scoring came into effect in 2001 ... an All-GNAC honorable mention selection as a sophomore at Saint Martin's in 2022, Jr. OH Tia Allen registered her first double-double as a Seawolf last week with 10 kills and 15 digs in the loss to South Dakota Mines ... Allen was critical in both victories in South Falls as well, notching 8 kills on .350 hitting against NW Missouri State and 8 kills on .250 hitting and 15 digs against Augustana.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves are 25-23 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, now with a six-match losing skid after their loss to Chaminade ... 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.
 
2024 Individual Honors
LARSSEN ANDERSON
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Aug. 25-31