THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thursday, Oct. 16 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Central Washington (10-4, 6-1 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (14-3, 5-2 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Oct. 18 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Northwest Nazarene (4-10, 3-4 GNAC [Thu. @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: All UAA home contests and GNAC road contests are streamed through the GNAC Network portal at Hudl – gnacnetwork.com/uaaseawolves ... fans can choose between a single event ($12), a 30-day subscription ($25) or a yearly subscription ($120).
 
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com ... Saturday's Pack The House tickets are all half-price at $5; fans are encouraged to purchase early online to expedite entry on match night.
 
THE PACK IS BACK: Back at the Alaska Airlines Center for the first time in October, the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team ends the opening round of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with critical contests against defending champ Central Washington on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.

BIG PROMOS ON TAP: Thursday's match will be Saddle-Up-For-A-Cure Pink Night, presented by Aurora Integrated Oncology Foundation ... the best pink cowboy outfit will receive a round-trip Alaska Airlines ticket, while second place will receive a speaker ... in addition, fans can bid on exclusive UAA pink warm-up jerseys with their favorite player's name on the back, with proceeds benefitting the AIOF Alaska Patient Support Fund ... on Saturday, UAA hosts its annual Pack the House celebration, presented by Marathon Petroleum ... the best game-day sign will receive a round-trip Alaska Airlines ticket, while second place will receive an Apple watch ... Pack-the-House giveaways include rally towels from Coca-Cola, a limited amount of Raising Canes chicken for UAA students, and pom-poms, along with a kids face-painting station ... tickets are all $5, with the first 50 UAA employees receiving free entry.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2025 stats)
S—Hannah Trotter, 5-9, So. (8.00 aps, 2.65 dps, 0.65 kps, 0.39 bps)
  or­—Johana Malikova, 5-10, Fr. (7.62 aps, 2.46 dps, 0.33 ace/set)
OH—Lee Ivakina, 6-0, Jr. (3.06 kps, .208 att%, 3.00 dps, 0.49 bps)
OH—Tia Allen, 5-11, Sr. (3.04 kps, .202 att%, 3.49 dps, 0.33 ace/set)
RS—Emma Beck, 5-1, Fr. (2.26 kps, .208 att%, 0.93 bps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Jr. (1.66 kps, .274 att%, 1.01 bps)
MB—Martina Riba, 6-0, So. (1.65 kps, .248 att%, 1.18 bps, 0.30 ace/set)
L—Madison Galloway, 5-4, Sr. (3.88 dps, 0.84 aps, 0.33 ace/set, .965 rec%)
 
THE SERIES...
vs CWU: UAA leads 31-26 overall, 16-12 in Anchorage
Last: CWU 3-0 (11/7/24 at CWU)
Streak: CWU 4
Notes: CWU's current win streak is its longest since taking 10 straight from 2003-07 ... UAA leads 7-2 at the Alaska Airlines Center ... since 2008, 11 matches have gone 5 sets and nine have gone 4 sets, with the Seawolves winning 16 of those 20 contests ... series tied 23-23 in GNAC matches (since 2001) … teams have met every season since 1999 ... first meeting was a 2-1 UAA neutral-court win in 1980 ... teams did not play between 1983-98.
 
vs NNU: UAA leads 28-20 overall, 18-6 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 3-2 (11/9/24 at NNU)
Streak: UAA 2
Notes: UAA has won 15 of the last 18 meetings ... the Seawolves have won 10 straight (3-1 last year) at the Alaska Airlines Center since NNU took the inaugural meeting in 2014 ... the last seven meetings have gone at least four sets ... 16 of the last 18 and 26 of the last 30 matches have been 4- or 5-setters ... UAA leads 27-19 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) … NNU won first meeting in 2000, 3-1, in Nampa.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Defending GNAC champion and preseason coaches' poll favorite Central Washington has ripped off five straight wins since suffering its lone league defeat Sept. 20 against Western Washington ... the Wildcats are led by Corinne Westby (2.90 kps, .181 att%, 2.07 dps) and Scottie Ellsworth (2.42 kps, .265 att%, 1.10 bps) ... picked seventh in the preseason poll, Northwest Nazarene takes a three-match win streak into Thursday's contest at Alaska Fairbanks ... the Nighthawks, from Nampa, Idaho, are led by Abby Black (2.98 kps, .120 att%, 2.94 dps) and Morgan Wilding (9.08 aps, 2.86 dps, 0.46 bps).
 
SOLID SPLIT: UAA split its road matches last week at top-20 opponents Western Washington and Simon Fraser ... on Thursday, Jr. OH Lee Ivakina had 19 kills on .300 hitting, but the Vikings took tight first and fourth sets in a 27-25, 21-25, 25-13, 28-26 decision ... So. MB Martina Riba had a career-high 10 kills on .381 hitting and 7 block assists, and Fr. Johana Malikova dished a career-best 50 assists and made 17 digs in the setback ... on Saturday, Ivakina (19 kills/16 digs) and Sr. OH Tia Allen (16K/16D) delivered double-doubles and Sr. L Madison Galloway made a career-best 27 digs to boost a 22-25, 25-22, 17-25, 28-26, 15-12 win over No. 7 SFU ... Malikova had 42 assists, 15 digs and 4 blocks, while Jr. MB Bella Burney had 9 kills and a career-high 8 block assists to help UAA rally from a 24-20 deficit in the fourth set.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves received 47 votes in this week's AVCA NCAA Div. II top-25 poll, putting them in 29th position ... UAA's 13-1 mark equaled the program's second-best record after 14 matches, along with the 2016 and 2022 GNAC title squads ... the Seawolves rank top-100 (of 275 teams) nationally in every primary statistical category, including 30th in blocks per set (2.32) ... UAA leads the GNAC defensively with 1.74 blocks and 1.07 aces allowed per set ... along with the last two matches last year, UAA's 11 straight Alaska Airlines Center victories are the second-longest streak since the arena's opening in 2014, behind the 16 in a row from Nov. 2021-Aug. 2023 ... the Seawolves' 16 regular-season home matches this year are the most in 11 seasons of play at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA has finished top 10 nationally in average attendance every season since 2014, leading NCAA Div. II five times (2014, '15, '16, '17, '18, '24) and finishing second twice ... the Seawolves are 27-25 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, including a 2-2 mark this year ... the Seawolves are 115-27 (.808) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 162-39 (.805) at home since 2009.
 
TIP-TOP TIA: The Seawolves' representative on the GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team, Sr. OH Tia Allen started the season with all-tournament honors at all three non-conference events, including the Most Outstanding Player award at the Seawolf Invitational ... an honorable mention All-GNAC performer as a junior at UAA in 2024 and as a sophomore at Saint Martin's in 2022, the Clayton, Wash., has produced double-doubles in nine of 17 matches, including five of seven GNAC contests ... in the GNAC stats, Allen is 8th in kills (3.04 kps), 9th in points (3.54 pps) and 12th in digs (3.49 dps) ... after topping 1,000 kills on Sept. 27, Allen needs just one more ace to become the 12th player in GNAC history (since 2001) to achieve career 1,000 marks in both kills (1,056) and digs (1,084), along with 100 aces (99).
 
MAD MONEY: UAA's lone fourth-year player, Sr. L Madison Galloway ranks 7th in the GNAC stats with 3.88 digs per set, totaling double figures in 14 of 17 matches ... Galloway earned an all-tourney award and her first career GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honor after posting 4.24 dps and registering a .978 (88-of-90) serve-receive on opening weekend, and she repeated her GNAC DPOW award this week after her outstanding efforts at No. 20 WWU and No. 7 SFU (career-high 27 digs, 45-of-45 serve-receive) ... the Pensacola, Fla., native has moved into 7th place on the UAA career digs list with 1,213, along with top-20 ranks in digs per set (18th, 3.06) and victories (t-15th, 73) ... Galloway has missed just one of 397 sets her entire career, taking over as UAA's full-time libero last season.
 
LEAPIN' LEE: UAA has found a new full-rotation standout in Jr. OH Lee Ivakina (e-VOCK-in-ah), who premiered with all-tournament honors at both the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge and Seawolf Invitational ... from Bulgaria via Navarro (Texas) College, Ivakina has posted double-doubles in nine of her first 17 NCAA matches, including a 15K/14D effort against Western Oregon and a 19K/16D line at No. 7 Simon Fraser ... her 20 kills in the 5-set win over Hawaii Hilo were five more than any Seawolf had in 2024 and just UAA's second 20-kill effort over the last three seasons ... Ivakina ranks 7th in the GNAC in kills (3.06 kps), 8th in points (3.57 pps) and 17th in digs (3.00 dps).
 
'WOLF BITES: Jr. MB Bella Burney has been a consistent force at the net, ripping at least five kills in all but two contests ... the Tumwater, Wash., product leads UAA and ranks 9th in the GNAC stats with a .274 attack pct., while she's 11th in the league with 1.01 blocks per set ... So. Martina Riba was an all-tourney performer at the Seawolf Invitational and recorded plus-.400 attack percentages in both of UAA's non-conference wins in Fairbanks ... the Barcelona native has registered at least six kills in 14 of 17 matches, while hitting over .300 in seven of the last nine contests ... Riba leads UAA and ranks 5th in the GNAC with 1.18 blocks per set ... Fr. RS Emma Beck delivered UAA's best attack pct (min. 12 kills) since Sept. 15, 2023 with her .520 (14-1-25) effort against Biola, and bettered that with a .538 (8-1-13) mark at MSUB ... a former Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year from Kenai, Beck ranks 14th in the GNAC in blocks (0.93 bps), producing at least six kills in the last 10 matches ... So. S Hannah Trotter is 4th in the GNAC with 8.00 assists per set, while Fr. S Johana Malikova ranks 5th in 7.62 aps ... the Seawolves have found a new serving specialist in Jr. DS/OH Elena Hansen ... a transfer from Limestone, Hansen ranks 7th in the GNAC with 0.42 aces per set, while producing 1.66 digs per set as well.
 
EYES ON MEISNER: Former Seawolf standout Stacie Meisner is in her third turn as UAA's head coach in 2025 ... Meisner has piloted the Seawolves to a 46-32 record, including a 16-12 overall mark and 5th-place Great Northwest Athletic Conference finish 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.
 
2025 Individual Honors
TIA ALLEN
Preseason All-GNAC Team
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Invitational Most Outstanding Player
Ice Block Classic All-Tournament Team
MADISON GALLOWAY
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, Aug. 25-31
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, Oct. 6-12
LEE IVAKINA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
MARTINA RIBA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team