THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thursday, Nov. 20 — 7 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Montana State Billings (2-20, 0-16 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (21-5, 12-4 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Nov. 22 — Noon AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Seattle Pacific (12-12, 7-9 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
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2025 stats)
S—Johana Malikova, 5-10, Fr. (7.85 aps, 2.62 dps, 0.36 bps)
OH—Lee Ivakina, 6-0, Jr. (3.20 kps, .198 att%, 2.83 dps, 0.52 bps)
OH—Tia Allen, 5-11, Sr. (3.25 kps, .218 att%, 3.26 dps, 0.36 bps)
RS—Emma Beck, 5-1, Fr. (2.16 kps, .217 att%, 0.82 bps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Jr. (1.75 kps, .288 att%, 1.00 bps)
MB—Martina Riba, 6-0, So. (1.50 kps, .223 att%, 1.18 bps, 0.25 ace/set)
L—Madison Galloway, 5-4, Sr. (4.01 dps, 0.91 aps, 0.29 ace/set, .954 rec%)
 
GNAC TITLE, NCAA BERTH ON LINE IN FINALES: The Alaska Anchorage volleyball team hosts its regular-season finales this week at the Alaska Airlines Center, facing Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA enters the week in a four-way tie for second place in the GNAC standings, one match behind league leader and defending champ Central Washington ... should UAA win its matches and CWU lose to either Simon Fraser or Western Washington, the Seawolves would claim at least a share of the GNAC title, along with a probable NCAA berth.
 
THE SERIES...
vs MSUB: UAA leads 60-11 overall, 30-5 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 3-0 (9/20/25 at MSUB)
Streak: UAA 13
Notes: The Seawolves have won 28 of the past 29 meetings, including nine straight sweeps since the pandemic ... UAA has won six straight at home and is 9-1 against MSUB at the Alaska Airlines Center ... MSUB's lone win over the last decade was a 3-1 upset in UAA's 2017 home finale ... teams have not played a 5-setter since 2008 ... UAA leads 29-6 since MSUB joined the GNAC in 2007 ... MSUB is UAA's second-most common opponent, trailing only UAF … teams met twice per season every year from 1985-2000 as members of the Pac West.
 
vs SPU: UAA leads 36-32 overall, 18-14 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 3-1 (9/18/25 at SPU)
Streak: UAA 3
Notes: UAA is aiming for its 10th season sweep in the last 12 seasons ... the last five meetings have all gone four sets ... UAA is 8-2 against SPU at the Alaska Airlines Center (since 2014) ... UAA leads 30-17 in GNAC matches (since 2001) ... first meetings came in 1991 as members of the Pac West.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Montana State Billings comes north looking to snap losing streaks of 38 straight to Div. II opponents and 44 straight in GNAC matches ... the Yellowjackets are led by Fr. OH Allie Dorman (2.32 kps, .129 att%, 2.00 dps) ... Seattle Pacific has won four straight matches to get back to .500 as it heads into Thursday's contest at No. 20 UAF ... aiming to lock down sixth place in the final standings, the Falcons are led by Fr. OH Megan Omlid (3.49 kps, .185 att%, 3.04 dps) and So. RS Amaya Evans (2.24 kps, .195 att%).
 
BIG ROAD WINS IN THE BOOK: UAA avoided an upset with a 3-1 win at Northwest Nazarene and tightened the GNAC race with a 3-2 victory over league leader Central Washington in its regular-season road finales last week ... on Thursday, Sr. OH Tia Allen had 14 kills, 20 digs and 4 block assists to power a 25-16, 28-26, 22-25, 25-20 win over NNU ... Fr. RS Emma Beck and Jr. MB Bella Burney had 10 kills apiece and combined for 13 block assists, while Fr. S Johana Malikova had 31 assists and a career-high 20 digs ... on Saturday, Jr. OH Lee Ivakina ripped 22 diggs and Allen had 20 kills and 14 digs to boost the 22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12 win over the Wildcats ... Burney came up huge with 10 kills on .450 hitting and 4 block assists, Fr. OH/RS Trinity Byrne had career-highs of 9 kills and 8 digs, and UAA got a combined 57 assists from Malikova and So. S Hannah Trotter ... for her efforts, Allen was named the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves earned the No. 3 spot in the NCAA Div. II West Region rankings last week, putting them in position to make the eight-team regional playoff field ... the top five teams in the region, along with the GNAC regular-season and Pac West and CCAA tournament champions, will play Dec. 4-6 (location TBD) for a berth in the NCAA Elite Eight ... the next version of the rankings comes out Wednesday, with the NCAA field announced Sunday ... the Seawolves received 69 votes in this week's AVCA NCAA Div. II top-25 poll, rising to 26th position ... UAA has clinched the program's 17th winning record in the last 18 seasons and the 17th 20-win record in 46 years of program history ... 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 stats category but aces per set (114th), including 28th in blocks per set (2.30) ... UAA leads the GNAC defensively with 1.12 aces allowed per set ... UAA's 11 straight Alaska Airlines Center victories – from Nov. 21, 2024 to Sept. 27, 2025 – were the second-longest streak since the arena's opening in 2014 ... 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 six times (2014, '15, '16, '17, '18, '24) and finishing second twice ... the Seawolves are now 29-26 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, including a 4-3 mark this year ... the Seawolves are 118-29 (.803) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 165-41 (.801) at home since 2009.
 
TIP-TOP TIA: An honorable mention All-GNAC performer as a junior at UAA in 2024 and as a sophomore at Saint Martin's in 2022, Sr. OH Tia Allen has produced double-doubles in 16 of 26 matches, including 12 of 16 GNAC contests, and captured GNAC Player of the Week honors for her heroics at NNU and CWU last week ... in the GNAC stats, Allen is 8th in kills (3.25 kps), 7th in points (3.71 pps) and 15th in digs (3.26 dps) ... the Clayton, Wash., native surpassed her collegiate career high with 23 kills recently at SMU, notching the second-most kills for a Seawolf since 2022 ... Allen is the 12th player in GNAC history (since 2001) to achieve career 1,000 marks in both kills (1,200) and digs (1,199), along with 100 aces (106), and her next dig will make her just the second with 1200/1200/100 totals ... the Seawolves' representative on the GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team, Allen started the year with all-tournament honors at all three non-conference events, including the Most Outstanding Player award at the Seawolf Invitational.
 
MAD MONEY: UAA's lone fourth-year player, Sr. L Madison Galloway stands 8th in the GNAC stats with 4.01 digs per set, totaling double figures in 22 of her 25 matches and 20-plus in five of her last nine ... 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 repeated her GNAC DPOW award with outstanding efforts at No. 20 WWU and No. 7 SFU (career-high 27 digs, 45-of-45 serve-receive) ... the Pensacola, Fla., native has also moved into 4th place on the UAA career digs list with 1,366, along with top-20 ranks in digs per set (16th, 3.16), sets played (11th, 432), matches played (t-17th, 116) and victories (13th, 79) ... Galloway has missed just one match her entire career, taking over as UAA's full-time libero last season.
 
LEAPIN' LEE: Jr. OH Lee Ivakina (e-VOCK-in-ah) has emerged as one of the most consistent all-around forces in the GNAC in her first season as a Seawolf ... premiering with all-tournament honors at both the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge and Seawolf Invitational, the Bulgarian has posted double-doubles in 14 of her first 26 NCAA matches, including a 15K/14D effort against Western Oregon, 19K/16D to propel the win at No. 7 Simon Fraser, and 25K/10D in the victory over No. 14 Western Washington ... Ivakina ranks 9th in the GNAC in kills (3.20 kps), 9th in points (3.68 pps), and 19th in digs (2.83 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 .288 attack pct., while she's also 9th in the league with 1.00 blocks per set ... Burney has moved into UAA's career top 20 in both block assists (15th, 225) and total blocks (15th, 246) ... 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 18 matches, while hitting over .300 in 10 contests ... Riba leads UAA and ranks 6th in the GNAC (28th nationally) with 1.18 blocks per set, while she's 19th in attack percentage at .223 ... 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 blocks (0.82 bps) ... Beck has produced at least six kills in 17 of the last 19 matches and double-figure kills 11 times in her first season ... Fr. S Johana Malikova ranks 4th in the league with 7.85 assists per set, while So. S Hannah Trotter is 5th with 7.37 aps ... Jr. DS/OH Elena Hansen has emerged as a key rotation piece in her first year with the program ... a transfer from Limestone, Hansen ranks 4th in the GNAC with 0.38 aces per set, while producing 1.53 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 53-34 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
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Nov. 10-16
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Invitational Most Outstanding Player
Ice Block Classic All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
GNAC All-Academic Team
BELLA BURNEY
GNAC All-Academic 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
GNAC All-Academic Team
LEE IVAKINA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
MARTINA RIBA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
HANNAH TROTTER
GNAC All-Academic Team