THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thursday, Oct. 9 — 6 pm ADT — Carver Gymnasium — Bellingham, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage (13-2, 4-1 GNAC) at #20 Western Washington (11-2, 5-1 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Oct. 11 — 4 pm ADT — SFU West Gymnasium — Burnaby, B.C.
Alaska Anchorage at #7 Simon Fraser (11-1, 5-1 GNAC [Thu. vs #18 UAF])
 
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: Thursday at wwuvikings.com/sidearmstats/wvball
                       Saturday at athletics.sfu.ca/sidearmstats/wvball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2025 stats)
S—Hannah Trotter, 5-9, So. (8.25 aps, 2.73 dps, 0.68 kps, 0.41 bps)
OH—Lee Ivakina, 6-0, Jr. (2.88 kps, .197 att%, 3.03 dps, 0.48 bps)
OH—Tia Allen, 5-11, Sr. (3.09 kps, .203 att%, 3.48 dps, 0.34 ace/set)
RS—Emma Beck, 5-1, Fr. (2.31 kps, .224 att%, 0.84 bps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Jr. (1.62 kps, .278 att%, 1.02 bps)
MB—Martina Riba, 6-0, So. (1.61 kps, .237 att%, 1.12 bps, 0.32 ace/set)
L—Madison Galloway, 5-4, Sr. (3.74 dps, 0.83 aps, 0.33 ace/set, .964 rec%)
 
RANKED ROAD CONTINUES: The Alaska Anchorage volleyball plays its second and third straight road matches against nationally ranked opponents this week, traveling Thursday (6 pm ADT) to No. 20 Western Washington and Saturday (4 pm ADT) to No. 7 Simon Fraser ... the Seawolves enter just half a match behind their foes in the GNAC standings, with both contests carrying major playoff implications.
 
THE SERIES...
vs WWU: WWU leads 41-22 overall, 17-8 in Bellingham
Last: UAA 3-0 (11/21/24 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: Teams have split the last 10 meetings ... WWU has won the last two in Bellingham, including a 3-2 (15-9) decision last year ... 12 of the last 16 matches have gone four or five sets ... there have been seven 5-setters and only five sweeps among the last 24 meetings ... the road team has won 15 of the last 26 meetings ... WWU won 17 straight from 2001-08 … teams have met every year since 2000 … series started in 1980.
 
vs SFU: UAA leads 21-7 overall, 10-4 in Burnaby
Last: UAA 3-0 (11/23/24 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: UAA snapped a four-match series losing streak with its Senior Day sweep of an NCAA Tourney-bound SFU squad last year in Anchorage ... SFU has won three straight in Burnaby, including 3-0 last year ... teams have played only three 5-setters, the last coming in 2019 ... UAA won the first 15 matches in series history ... SFU joined the GNAC in 2010.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Ranked 20th in the latest AVCA Top 25 poll and half a match ahead of UAA in the standings, Western Washington is looking to bounce back from a 3-0 upset loss at Saint Martin's on Saturday ... the Vikings feature GNAC kills leader Devyn Oestreich (4.17 kps, .319 att%, 3.71 dps) alongside Delaney Speer (3.54 kps, .257 att%, 3.08 dps) and Emily Vossenkuhl (1.51 kps, .315 att%, 1.11 bps) ... tied with WWU for second in the standings and riding a five-match winning streak since losing 3-2 at Central Washington on Sept. 18, Simon Fraser brings a No. 7 national ranking into its matches with UAA and UAF this week ... the Red Leafs are led by Natalie Lemoine-Sells (3.45 kps, .268 att%, 0.62 bps), Eva Person (8.81 aps, 2.26 dps, 0.66 bps) and Logan Remington (3rd nationally with 1.74 bps).
 
STREAK ENDS UP NORTH: UAA's six-match winning streak and unbeaten GNAC start came to an end Thursday with a four-set (16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 27-25) loss at No. 23 Alaska Fairbanks, despite a season-high 23 digs from Sr. L Madison Galloway ... Sr. OH Tia Allen had 15 kills and 19 digs and Jr. OH Lee Ivakina had 12 kills and 11 digs, but the Seawolves lost despite outhitting (.194 to .184) and outblocking (9-8) the hosts ... Fr. RS Emma Beck added 11 kills on .290 hitting and a career-best 7 block assists.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves received 39 votes in this week's AVCA NCAA Div. II top-25 poll, putting them in 31st 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-50 nationally in opponent attack pct. (22nd, .134), blocks per set (45th, 2.23) and aces per set (50th, 2.05), while they remain the only team in the GNAC allowing fewer than one ace per set (0.95) ... 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 26-24 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, halting a six-match losing skid with their Aug. 29 win over No. 9 Chaminade ... 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., native has already established a UAA career-best 18 kills against Cal State San Marcos and an overall career-high .462 attack pct against Minot State, producing double-doubles in eight of 15 matches ... in the GNAC stats, Allen is 7th in kills (3.09 kps), 8th in points (3.59 pps), 12th in digs (3.48 dps) and 18th in aces (0.34) ... after topping 1,000 kills on Sept. 27, Allen needs just three more aces to become the 12th player in GNAC history (since 2001) to achieve career 1,000 marks in both kills (1,027) and digs (1,048), along with 100 aces (97).
 
MAD MONEY: UAA's lone fourth-year player, Sr. L Madison Galloway ranks 8th in the GNAC stats with 3.74 digs per set, totaling double figures in 12 of 15 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 as UAA went 4-0 in the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge ... the Pensacola, Fla., native has moved into 8th place on UAA career digs list with 1,170, along with top-20 ranks in digs per set (19th, 3.02) and victories (t-16th, 72) ... Galloway has missed just one of 388 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 eight of her first 15 NCAA matches, including 13 kills and 13 digs against Biola and a 15/14 effort against Western Oregon ... 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 11th in the GNAC in kills (2.88 kps), 12th in points (3.39 pps) and 16th in digs (3.03 dps).
 
'WOLF BITES: Jr. MB Bella Burney has been a consistent force at the net, ripping at least three kills in every match and committing no more than three attack errors in all but one contest ... Burney leads UAA and ranks 10th in the GNAC stats with a .278 attack pct., while she's 11th in the league with 1.02 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 12 of 15 matches, while hitting over .300 in six of the last seven contests ... Riba leads UAA and ranks 7th in the GNAC with 1.12 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 19th in the GNAC in both points (2.73 pps) and kills (2.31 kps), along with 17th in blocks (0.84 bps), producing at least six kills in the last eight matches ... So. S Hannah Trotter has risen to 4th in the GNAC with 8.25 assists per set, along with solid numbers of 2.73 dps and 0.41 bps ... Fr. S Johana Malikova holds GNAC top-15 ranks in aces per set (12th, 0.40) and assists per set (8th, 6.83), dishing a season-high 45 assists in the win over San Marcos ... the Seawolves have found a new serving specialist in Jr. DS/OH Elena Hansen ... a transfer from Limestone, Hansen ranks 5th in the GNAC with 0.43 aces per set, while producing 1.71 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 45-31 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
LEE IVAKINA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
MARTINA RIBA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team